Cosmopolitan Girl
by Fish and Chipz
Summary: A sort of diary from your average teenage girl about 16 years old point of view, how she deals with an evil spirit, a certain Pharaoh, a CEO, friends, crushes, zits, family reunions YamixOC Complete.
1. The Secret Diary, bought and used!

**Chapter 1 **

**The Secret Diary, Bought and Used!**

I closed my book shut as soon as I had finished writing in personal details in my new diary. I just got it from the bookshop in town after school.

There it was sitting on the stand next to some booster duelling card packs, watching me with its bold gold outlining that said 'diary'.

I was drawn to it like a fly to honey. Lifting it off from the shelves felt wondrous. I could write my own personal story in this book. It was about 4.5 inches thick, and A5 sized, complete with a bookmark and even a space for addresses and phone numbers.

"Whatcha' got dere, Gurlie?" Joey asked me as I stood gloating over it.

I covered it, not letting him see. "Nothing, Joey. Are you going to stand there and watch me or are you going to get a new notebook for school?" I asked smiling.

"That's why I came up to ya', where's all the pads? I've been lookin' everywhere." He said.

"Follow me." I said and I manoeuvred my way through the other stands and people with Joey following behind me. I directed Joey over to the huge shelf next to the entrance of the shop, which said 'Notebooks and refill pads all half-price'. The size of the sign was enormous.

Joey grinned sheepishly and I left him be to look for Tea.

I found her gazing at a thick book about dancing. She closed it abruptly as I stepped over to her.

"Oh, hi Charybdis. I didn't see you there." She said.

"What's that?" I asked.

"This? A book about dancing…" She replied cheerfully.

Tea had a hobby of dancing – I've never seen her dance though.

"Cool, are you gonna get it?"

"No, it's too expensive." She said disappointedly. "What about you?"

"I found something useful." I presented my 'soon to be' diary in front of her. "Where's Yugi? I thought he was with you." I added.

"He went to find some duelling cards on display. I'll go look for him." Tea said, as she put the book back on its place.

She disappeared round the tall book shelf and I immediately sauntered after her and went in her opposite direction to check up on Joey.

It was a Monday afternoon; Yugi, Joey, Tea and I had made plans to go to the Domino Bookshop to get some stationery for school. Tristan and Duke had detention once again because they were talking (more like arguing) in class for the whole period. I'd never understand those two. In fact, I'd never understand all boys.

Hunh? I stopped in my tracks after wandering around to see a particular short boy with wild spiky hair. I tiptoed up behind him, and then peered over his shoulder.

"Argh! Charybdis! Don't do that again!" Yugi shouted as he stepped to the left.

I giggled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I thought Tea might be here."

"I haven't seen her yet." Yugi replied.

I just noticed how short he actually was. I was only taller than him a few inches and I had to look down to see him. Still, his soft purple eyes and that innocent face wanted me to pinch his face or give him a big hug, but I managed to stop myself in time.

"Are you thinking of buying cards?" I asked.

He shook his head. "I've got a game shop, I'll get them there."

I grinned as soon as Joey came bounding over to us. "I've been looking all over for ya. Where's Tea?" He asked.

"Over here guys!" Tea shouted.

We all turned. "Tea!"

She was standing next to the counter. "I was going to look for you guys."

"Well, looks like you did find us." I said.

We soon bought our things and were heading home. We walked past a large sort of looking dark house, with a large gate in front.

"Oh well guys. I'm home. See you tomorrow." I bid my farewell, before fumbling for my keys and sticking them into the gargoyle on the door's mouth. I turned it clockwise, and the gargoyle's head turned in the clockwise direction until a large clang was heard. The gate snapped open and the doors opened automatically in front of me.

Joey shivered. "Your house is huge."

"Yet scary." I added.

He nodded. "No offence or anything."

"None taken, I find it scary too." I replied before disappearing into the front yard. The gates closed behind me. Why is it scary? Probably because there were stories around the neighbourhood that someone died in here…

"I'm hooooooome!" I opera-sang into the living room.

Mum was in the kitchen washing the dishes, dad wasn't home from work yet and Callista was sitting in the dining table looking at her Psychology book.

Callista turned over a page. "Back home, Charybdis?" She asked, not looking up from her book.

I nodded as I put my bag down. "Uh…. I'll be in my room."

I snatched my diary quickly, and ran up the stairs to my room, locked the door and pounced on my bed. I uncovered my diary, and soon began to scribble stuff in with my ball pen.

**I am…**

Name: Charybdis

Age: 16 – 17

Nickname: 'Gurlie', according to Joey

Date of Birth: 4th December

Hobbies: Watching TV, playing computer console games, annoying people, reading manga, books or magazines, drawing, fantasising of non existing people and BOYS!

Heroes: Game Freak, Orlando Bloom, Brad Pitt, Mario and Yoshi and Yugi (ultimate duelist)

What I'll be when I grow up: No idea yet, but I would like to be beautiful, confident and adored by people around – right now I'm a scrawny looking girl.

Personality: Shy, awkward, boy crazy (sort of, not really… okay, a bit), bad athlete, sensitive, creative, caring, kind, gentle and afraid of anything

Worries: Exams, illnesses, depression and school

Gender: Female

Height: Lost the measuring tape and rulers don't help…. But I'm pretty puny standing next to Tristan and somehow a little taller than Yugi when I'm standing next to him

Weight: The scales broke, but I assume I'm about 7 stones

Hair colour: Blackish red, I dyed it

Eye colour: Brown

**My Family….**

Name: Sara (my mum)

Age: Probably about 39 or something, but she looks as if she's 20 years old

Date of Birth: 6 May

Job: Works with dad as a psychologist

Weight: I don't know

Hair colour: Black and pink

Eye colour: Purple (contacts)

Personality: If she weren't 39 years old, she'd be cool, fashionable, posh and mature. But since she is 39, she's moany half the time, loud and impatient.

Name: Conner (my dad)

Age: Probably 40, but looks like a 60 year old

Date of Birth: 1 April (Poor dad, his birthday present last year was a whoopee cushion I set up under the pillow of his armchair)

Job: Psychologist

Weight: No idea, but he's getting spare tyre and I think it's made him heavier than usual

Hair colour: He's almost bald

Eye colour: brown

Personality: Childish, immature, makes rude jokes and tries to be cool when he's not

Name: Callista

Age: 21

Date of Birth: 25 November

Job: Student at University

Hair colour: Blackish brown

Eye Colour: Brown

Personality: Bossy, loud, impatient and rude sometimes

**Pets**

We had a dog named BooBoo Knees who was a cocker spaniel and only about a few months old but he threw up on the rug during his first month in our house, and mum had to give him to someone else.

We've also had 10 goldfish during three years but they all died one by one…

**Best Girl friends**

Name: Tea Gardner

Age: 16

Personality: Nice, kind, always funny, can help me out and totally reliable

Name: Serenity

Age: Forgot since I don't see her that much, Tristan and Duke pull me away when I try to talk to her

Personality: Has a BIG heart (no wonder guys go ga-ga over her), caring and unselfish

(Um... I only have two female friends? O.O;;)

**Best Guy Friends**

Name: Joey Wheeler

Age: 16

Personality: He's a Street punk to me, cool and tough

Name: Yugi Moto

Age: 16

Personality: He may seem short but don't underestimate him, he's rather shy and a friendly boy

Name: Tristan Taylor

Age: 16

Personality: Funny, smart, responsible.

Name: Duke Devlin

Age: 16

Personality: Manly, gentle. Urgh…. Yeah.

Name: Ryou Bakura

Age: 16

Personality: A big softie and a true gentleman. His face just wants me to hug him as well!

I was giggling when I wrote about Ryou. True, he was sweet and caring. And Duke…. Okay he sort of had an electric flash in his eye when he spoke or looked at me, well, diaries are supposed to be where all your personal secrets are, right?


	2. Allergy Problems and Zits

**Author's Note**

Hi! It is me Fish And Chips! Glad to know that the people who reviewed on my story liked it! Thank you! This isn't my first time writing by the way, this is the third time I've been writing in, and all the weird Mary Sue and things sort of makes my brain malfunction. I hope it wouldn't be too much of a problem! Thanks!

Chapter 2 

**Allergy problems and Zits**

I've been too busy writing the most outrageous things in my diary to notice that it was already dinnertime. I snorted with laughter after reading over what I had written.

"Charybdis! Hurry up and get down here, we're waiting!" Callista shouted from the stairs.

I shut my diary closed in a huff. "I'm coming!" I yelled back, before putting the lock on my diary. I need to make sure prying eyes won't get a hold on this. Plus, I've written some pretty nasty stuff in there, ho ho ho…

I galloped down the stairs and sat down on my seat next to Callista who was still staring at her psychology book.

"Why did you take psychology anyway?" I asked her as mum entered the room carrying our plates.

"I just find it interesting, Charybdis, besides, mum and dad are psychologists." She replied.

"Does that mean I need to become a psychologist too when I'm older?" I asked.

Mum shook her head. "Of course not Charybdis, your father and I don't mind what you want to be in the future, as long as you get good grades in your work at school."

Callista snorted. "Charybdis never gets good grades. She never studies."

"I do so!" I rebuked. "I look at my biology book now and then!"

"Yeah right, I see you always going upstairs playing your Playstation or talking to your friends on the phone."

I ignored her and dug into my mashed potato.

"Charybdis, you must learn to study." Mum said as she ate a carrot.

"I know that mum." I growled. I hated it when my family just had to nose into schoolwork.

"We're only trying to help, Charybdis." My dear sweet big sister added.

"Callista put your book away and eat." Mum ordered.

She placed her book down and began to eat. I gave her death glares from the corner of my eyes as we ate in silence. Eee gawd, I know she might be shouting at me for my own good, but I've heard their speech a lot of times.

"Ah lui (Cantonese for daughter), as long as you study hard and work hard everyday after school or during your spare time, tests will soon become easy for you. It's no wonder you're struggling at school, you have to study." Dad once said to me.

Bah! Stuff that right now!

o

The next morning, I woke up extremely early, at 6:46am and stayed downstairs in my pyjamas. After eating breakfast I brushed my teeth squeaky whitey clean, combed my hair straight and free of knots, washed my face with water and Clearasil and looked at myself in the mirror.

"WAAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!"

There it was. On my cheek, my left cheek. A pimple!

My heart -

It's stopped beating.

"Charybdis, what's wrong?" Mum asked, she was in her nightdress, with half open eyes. She had darted from her room to the bathroom and was now staring at me at the floor.

"My face…" I breathed.

"What about your face?" Callista waddled up to the bathroom rubbing her eyes groggily. I stared at her frilly pink nightdress and bunny slippers.

"I've-I've-I-I-I-I-I."

"Spit it out." Callista moaned.

"I've got a… pimple." I said, feeling stupid.

"That's it?" Mum asked.

I nodded. Dad's loud snoring was heard throughout the calm house.

"That's it! You shriek the whole house down just for a pimple? A lousy, stupid pimple?" Callista screamed.

Mum hushed her down then focused to me. "Just add some cream, Charybdis."

o

Oh no! Something has gone wrong with my face! I stared at my red – coloured cheek at the mirror. "Mum! Why isn't it working!"

Mum poked her head through the door. "Whoa, what cream did you apply?"

"I used E45. That usually helps." I replied, inspecting my cheek harder.

Mum took a good look at the ointment. "Charybdis! That's not E45! That's E65!"

"Huh?"

"Cream for dad's terrible blackheads and acne."

"AAAAAAARRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!"

Mum immediately washed my cream off.

"Yow! It stings!" I sobbed.

"Hold still, honestly, you're 16 years old, you should be able to take care of yourself." Mum said, wiping some E45 on.

Callista sniggered when she saw me whimpering and whining.

I glared at her. "What's so funny!"

"You're such a baby."

"Am not."

"Yes you are. You still watch cartoon network."

"There's nothing wrong with cartoon network!"

I stood up after mum had finished applying the cream and stormed upstairs, locked myself in my room. It was only 7am, so I decided to write some stuff into my book.

_Callista is a nosy, little know it all. She thinks she's so great just because she's got a boyfriend and she's at university. She likes to boss me around and annoys me so much sometimes I wish she'd lose her mouth. Honestly, I don't know why I just had to get a BIG sister; if I got a little sister I would love her dearly and play with her all day long. Callista is also impatient and she orders me to give her glasses of water and make dinner if mum and dad are working late. She also likes to brag about herself and make me feel inferior. Sure, if she is 21 years old, which I don't think she is, can't she just be a little bit more mature?_

I sniggered at what I wrote. Totally true!

o

The allergies had just gone even worse than normal. It had gone crimson to purple!

I begged mum to let me not go to school – she refused of course, so here I am now skating on my roller blades past Joey's house. Until I noticed I had skated past it I skated back, and pressed the doorbell.

Serenity opened the door.

"Oh hi Charybdis… What happened to your face?" She asked.

_Serenity is Joey's little sis. She may be sometimes a bit of a wimp, but I highly respect her. She is a true friend like Tea and Yugi, and is so great that right now two guys are even fighting themselves over her. Lucky gal. I wonder how she puts up with it all the time. I'd get freaked out if two guys marched over to me and asked whom I liked out from the both of them. That would've been the toughest decision ever._

I touched my mask, which covered my cheeks and nose. Serenity stared hard.

"Um… nothing's wrong, Serenity. So um… is Joey there?"

"Who's lookin' for me?" Joey's voice was heard inside.

"Charybdis is here." Serenity called. She disappeared inside the house after telling me to wait, and in a minute, Joey was leaning against the doorway on his side looking at me strangely.

"What happened to ya face, Gurlie?" He asked as he adjusted his blue blazer.

"Don't ask." I grumbled. "Well, are you coming or not with me to Yugi's?"

"Sure thing, Gurlie. Wait for a sec." He too, disappeared back inside the house.

I sighed. I'm expecting more and more people coming over to me to ask what happened to my face. Joey popped back up with his schoolbag, and I skated back out with him following behind me.

We were walking (or skating) in silence until Joey spoke up:

"What's unda de mask?" He asked as he looked down beside me.

I sighed once more. "Allergy problem."

"Aren't ya gettin' more attention wearing dat thing?"

"I don't care."

"C'mon. Looks don't count. It's what inside dat counts."

"Whatever."

Without warning, he reached over, and snatched my mask off! I screamed, and covered my face with my hands. Then I glared angrily at him.

"Oi! Give it here Monkey boy!" I shouted.

"Not until I see what's wrong." He twiddled the mask in his fingers, and I didn't dare jump over him to get it in case I fell over in my skates. "And who are ya calling me 'Monkey boy', Monkey girl?" He grinned.

"… Monkey girl?" My face turned red with fury. I sighed then. "Fine." I surrendered, and let my hands off.

"Whoa! Jesus! What's wrong?" Joey asked as he walked in front of me, studying my face so close that I only saw his brown eyes. I pushed him away gently.

"Don't laugh." I mumbled, fiddling with my long hair and staring at the floor.

He sniggered. "You look fine ta me."

"What?" I looked back up.

"Like I sed before. Looks don't count; it's what inside that does." He said.

I stared at him as he continued walking in front of me. "Ya know sumthing?" I said, grinning.

"What?" He asked.

"That's the smartest thing you've ever said to me ever since I came to this school - which was about a year ago."

"What? A whole year? You gotta be kiddin'!" He choked.

I shook my head. "Sorry."

"What was the dumbest thing I've said then?" He asked me.

I thought for a while. "Um…. When you asked me where the boy's bathroom was, and you were right beside it, I guess."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I suppose – hey! Watch out!" I pulled him over back beside me on the left as a car sped past near the kerb, narrowing missing Joey.

"You stupid driver! How'd ya even get a license!" I yelled furiously, with my fist clenched at the car as it drove away.

I turned back to Joey. "You okay?"

He looked almost speechless.

"Er… Joey?" I touched his shoulder and felt him go tense.

"You saved my life!" He said as he looked at me.

"Uh….. yeah…. I think."

_Joey is one of my bestest guy friends. Not only is he the most wonderfully weird, but the smartest person unlike me, but he is a like a big brother to me, like Tristan and Yugi. He's always there for me, and I dreadfully envy Serenity for such a nice big brother – sometimes I wish Serenity and I could swap places. Oh yeah, and watching him fend Tristan and Duke off Serenity is fun!_


	3. Spirit of The Millennium Ring

**Chapter 3**

**Spirit of the Millennium Ring**

We soon met up with Tea – who asked me what was wrong with my face. I simply shrugged and replied it was just an allergy. It was great that my face was turning fainter into my normal skin colour than purple using Tea's foundation.

Then we met up with Yugi, but he didn't seem to notice anything wrong with me.

Tea and Joey decided to look for Ryou, Tristan and Duke before the bell rang – Yugi and I decided to go up to the library where the early bird program was taking place.

The early bird program was for students who came extra early in school, like us. The library was mostly packed after school and at lunch time, so it was much better to come in the morning.

After placing my skates in my locker and swapping my school shoes, Yugi and I walked up to the library together.

o

Hmm…. Ancient Egyptian civilisation…. No…..

I was busy raking through the shelves looking for a book about Egyptian Pharaohs. Yugi was sitting in a table looking at a thick book about Egyptian mythology. Finally, I found a decent book about Pharaohs and slaves, flipped it open and began giggling at how people tortured slaves. Ooh, how ruthless…. So evil. I'll take it!

I flopped the book down next to Yugi then clambered over and sat myself down.

"Yugi?" I peered over at him.

He's gone all serious and quiet now. His rounded amethyst orbs were now narrow and full of mystery. He wasn't smiling, but was deep in thought with the book – or else – something behind his shoulder since he was staring into space occasionally.

_Yugi Moto is the first person to befriend me when I came here. He is a shy, friendly and sweet guy, with a BIIIIIG heart none of us probably has. It's probably the size of a football or something. He may be short, but he's talented in duelling – much better than me anyway. You know, sometimes when I look at him, he's all manly and serious, and next he's all nice and gentle. Okay, sometimes I do find him attractive….. Whoa! Hold it! _

"Yugi?" I said again.

He turned round. "Yes?"

"Look what I found." I showed him the book. "I heard that your past life you were a Pharaoh, so I found you a book about Pharaohs, it's really interesting." I grinned and moved the book over, before leaping back over to the shelves and search for a book about romance.

"Thank you Charybdis." He said, smiling as he put his book down and flipped open the book I got him.

"No problem." I continued hunting for a novel until I saw Joey, Ryou and Duke in the library.

"Joeeey! Ryouuuuu! Duuuuuke!" I said quietly, remembering to lower my voice here; somehow I reminded myself of a goose with a sore throat.

They sauntered over to me. "Where's Tea and Tristan?"

"Tea found a poster about holding auditions for the talent Contest." Ryou piped up in his British accent.

_Ryou, I have no idea where he really originated from, and he appears to float around school half the time, he too was transferred here. Shy, cute and gentle, every girl always stares at him when he's near civilisation. I just can't imagine how he can walk around in the blazing hot sun wearing a woolly jumper though._

"Yeah, an' Tristan's just outside at the vending machine." Joey added.

I flipped through the novel I had just snatched off the bookshelf – I had reached the kissing scene, and used the book to cover my giggles.

"What's wrong with your face, Charybdis?" Duke asked me.

_Duke, is the creator of a game I've never heard of, called Dungeon Dice monsters – much to his displeasure. He's tall, broad and handsome, I guess. He's also taller than quite a lot of inches, and it feels as though I'm talking to a tower or looking up a skyscraper when I stand beside him. It's also probably no wonder he sounds like God when he speaks to me. _

I put my book down, and then shifted a little. "Allergy problems."

"She thinks she's no pretty." Joey smirked.

"Shuddup Joey!" I barked at him. "You ain't no girl so you don't know how it feels."

"You look fine to me." Yugi's deep voice rang beside me and I almost crashed into the stand before Duke caught me.

"You gave me a fright." I mumbled and I got back up.

"Sorry." Yugi said.

"Honestly, I don't know why girls fuss over their looks'." Joey added.

"Well, perhaps we don't want to come to school with hair looking like a mop." I retorted back at him.

"A mop?" Joey looked blank at the guys.

"She's referring to you, man." Duke said.

There was a short silence.

Joey growled and clenched his fist. "I don't look like a mop! You're going to get it now, Monkey Girl!"

I quickly made my way past Yugi and ran to the far end of the library with Joey chasing after me. I ran back to the gang as soon as he had caught up with me, and hid behind Ryou.

"Ryou, help me!" I pleaded.

He yelped in surprise as Joey lunged at him – he was actually aiming for me, but I made a quick getaway behind Duke, before hiding behind Yugi. I peeked out.

"That's enough, Joey. Leave her alone." Yugi said.

I nodded behind Yugi, and stuck my tongue out at him. "Yeah, listen to Yugi, Joey. You could learn something."

He growled at me again while the others laughed.

o

I mumbled my apologies to Joey during interval, who was still feeling rather angry and pissed off with me. I could feel myself sweat dropping with nervousness as he didn't seem to take my apology rather gallantly as I would expect. "I'm sorry Joey." I said again, before giving him my most famous puppy dog pout. My lower lip trembled and my eyes began watery. I clasped my hands in front of him and looked into his brown orbs. "Please forgive me."

He sighed. "Stop putting that face, you're making me sick." He grinned.

"Does that mean you forgive me?" I asked happily.

He nodded. "Do you really think I was being serious with ya back there?"

I jumped up and down. "Of course! You get quite scary when you're mad."

"I wasn't really mad at ya, Gurlie. People make remarks about my hair all the time."

Tristan and Tea joined us at the social area where we were all hanging about. Duke and Yugi were raking through Yugi's deck, Ryou sitting down beside me looking at his maths work with my help, and Joey sitting beside me talking non stop like always. I was looking through his deck and trying to help Ryou, before I spotted Tea coming over, I leapt over, almost sending Joey's cards everywhere.

"Hey, watch it, Gurlie!" He snapped.

"Sorry."

I focused my attention away from him. "Hi Tea, did you manage to get yourself a place in the auditions?" I asked.

"She nodded vigorously, smiling. "Monday at 6th period!"

_Tea Gardner, mostly known as 'Friendship Girl' because she makes speeches and quotes about friendship, she talks a lot. She's always encouraged me when I came to this school and was the second to befriend me. We're both girls so we understand how each other feels. I also know about her secret crush on Yugi…. Ehehe…. She made me swear that to her that if I did blabbed about the secret, I'd get smacked by lightning. _

"Oh darn it, I've ran out of soda." Tristan said, before turning back. "I'm just going to get some more soda. Any you guys want some?"

I jumped up and down. "Me! Me!" I bounded up to him. "I'll come with you."

"Sure thing, Charybdis." Tristan said turning to me, before turning back.

_He is almost or probably taller or shorter than Duke. I've never really realized it before. Tristan Taylor is one of my male friends who are a giant to me; I must be like a mouse or shrimp to him. Sure enough, he's called me 'Shrimp' or 'Happy Boo' before because I always seem so cheerful all the time. Yeah I know, it's quite weird. _

We both had to take menus with us. Yugi wanted a coke, so did Tea and Ryou. Joey and I wanted to get mineral water and Duke wanted some soda. Soon we were back holding 6 cans, Tristan was already drinking his, and we returned back to the social area.

"Thanks you two." Joey said as he cracked open the lid of his mineral water, and he took huge gulps of it down.

Yugi and Ryou took small gulps. Tea was too busy rehearsing a few moves to finish her drink, Tristan had already finished his. I haven't drunk all my mineral water; I took several gulps at a time because Duke was teaching me about his game.

"Did you get that?"

"Huh? What?" I asked.

He sighed. "The rules of Dungeon Dice Monsters."

I shook my head. "Sorry. Tell me at lunchtime, I'm packed lunches today." Then I turned to Ryou.

"Ryou, are you alright? You seem rather quiet." I asked him.

He shook his head. "I'm fine, my arm just hurts, that's all." He replied, looking at me.

I sat myself beside him and Yugi. "Why does your arm always hurt?"

I noticed Yugi, Tea, Tristan and the rest exchange nervous looks. "What is it?" I asked them. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Erm…. We're not very sure if you would like to know, Charybdis." Yugi said worriedly. He glanced at me.

"What is it?" I asked desperately.

"Well…. You are our friend after all….." Tea said quietly. She moved beside Yugi. "You have to keep this a secret, Charybdis."

I nodded. "Okay, if I tell anyone else about it, I'll cross my heart, hope to die and dunk my head in mum's bean curd pie."

They all stared at me. "What?" I asked again. "Mum's homemade bean curd pie is nasty."

o

"So…. You're saying that Ryou has this evil spirit living inside that nice ring?" I pointed to his pendant which hung around his neck in front of his chest.

They all nodded.

"That's so cool!"

They all fell down anime style.

"There's nothing cool about having an evil spirit taking control over you, Charybdis!" Tea said worriedly. She was eyeing me funnily.

"Well, if there is an evil spirit – how do we know when he comes out?" I asked.

"Let's just say his voice and looks change."

"Interesting – like how when Yugi – " I kept my mouth shut.

"What about Yugi?" Joey asked me suspiciously.

I shook my head. "N-Nothing." I looked at back at Yugi who was now also staring at me oddly like Tea.

_Aaaahhhh! Stop looking at me like that, you guys! _

"What?" I squeaked meekly at them, now getting frustrated as they still didn't stop looking at me.

o

"I think something's wrong with you guys after I asked about your pendant, Ryou. Is it something I said?" I asked.

Ryou and I were walking back home from school. Unfortunately Joey landed himself a detention with Tristan and Duke. Yugi and Tea were at Supported Study. I've just noticed that they both really do spend a lot of time together…. Or maybe Tea just wanted to be with Yugi?

I looked at Ryou who was slowly massaging his left arm. He looked back at me. "It wasn't what you said, Charybdis."

"Really? Then why did everyone didn't talk to me afterwards, even Joey avoided me." I said sadly, looking at my skates.

"They weren't ignoring you." He added.

"I hope you're right, Ryou." I replied. "Do you still want help with your algebra work?" I decided to change the subject.

He shook his head slightly. "No, I'm fine, thank you."

"You know, I don't like maths just as much you do too, I hate all those annoying numbers – and the decimals, god, I cannae cope with it. And Pythagoras just makes my head spin and – Ryou?" I noticed that Ryou wasn't with me.

"Ryou?" I asked again, I spotted that he was standing still on the pavement with his bangs covering his eyes, looking down with his arms at his side. "Ryou, what's wrong?" I put my hand on his shoulder and shivered.

I found him shaking slightly. His mouth was forming into a grin, his body seemed cold and he was starting to chuckle – and even do an evil laugh. He looked at me. I felt myself leapt at his brown orbs which stung into me painfully.

"So… girl…. You were curious to know me?" He asked, grasping my wrist tightly which was supposed to be on his shoulder.

I eyed Ryou suspiciously. "What are you talking about? I know you already."

He glared at me coldly, but I gave him a weird look back. "Well uh….. Are you coming or not?" I asked.

He didn't say anything – but he was eyeing me from head to toe. I stepped back a little and stared at him. "What are you staring at?"

"Quiet woman!"

I was taken back by his rude manners. "Who are you? Are you still Ryou?"

He glared at me with such ice I almost froze. "How stupid could this girl get?" I heard him mutter.

"Hey!" I yelled at him. "You'd better let my hand go! You're rude! Who do you think you are calling me 'stupid'? Do you think you're so great?"

He was also taken back by my boldness. He grinned evilly, showing his intense whiteness in his teeth. "I like you, girl, you're not very smart, but you're pretty."

My face went red as he released my arm. "Y-You think I'm pretty?" I turned away from him. "Wow… that's so sweet…. And direct, coming from you, Ryou….."

"Don't you ever compare me with that weakling!" He shouted.

"Ryou isn't weak – wait…. If you're not Ryou, then who are you?"

"Charybdis!" Yugi's voice was heard, and Tea was running behind him.

Yugi stopped running, and Tea stopped behind him too. "Charybdis….." He panted heavily.

"Yugi, Tea…. What are you two doing here?" I asked them.

Tea grabbed me and pulled me behind her, I almost fell over after losing my balance on the skates. She glared at 'Ryou'. "What did he say to you?" She asked me.

I shrugged. "He said I was pretty but dumb."

Tea cocked her eyebrow. "Huh?"

Yugi was now glaring at 'Ryou'.

"What's the matter, Pharaoh? I didn't know this girl was so special to you." 'Ryou' asked.

"How dare you even show your face around here! Return Ryou back!" Yugi demanded furiously.

I looked at Yugi behind Tea. Whoa…. I've never seen him so serious before…

'Ryou' pointed to me and I hid behind Tea. "Your friend of yours doesn't seem very aware of who I am."

Yugi looked at me, then back. "What do you want with her?"

"Nothing." 'Ryou' shrugged. "She seemed quite interested in knowing me before."

A bright light surrounded 'Ryou' from the Ring around his neck and then, the Ryou I knew before appeared.

"Huh? Yugi? Tea? Where did you come from?" he asked questioningly. He looked at me. "Did something happen?"


	4. The Accident and Hospital Checkups

**Chapter 4 The Accident**

"You mean the spirit from the Millennium Ring had taken over Ryou??" I asked Yugi and Tea who was sitting on my bedroom floor.

They both nodded. We three decided to take Ryou home, and then I decided to hold a 'sort of' meeting at my house to talk about the spirit.

"Oh." I replied, sipping my tea and taking a bite out of my biscuit.

_Mum had poked her head from the door. She was happy that I had some of my friends over. I forced Callista inside her bedroom, and told mum that we needed some privacy. She only came up to deliver some tea, and to collect the trash. _

"You know, you have got a nice place, here. Your bedroom's huge." Tea marvelled as she looked around. She placed her cup down and began wandering around my room while Yugi and I stayed sitting on the floor.

"Yeah." Yugi replied, also taking a bite out of a chocolate finger. "This place is great."

Tea was now staring at my ornamental crystals and duelling cards which were on display.

"What's the evil spirit called?" I asked.

"He calls himself Bakura. He's after the seven Millennium items, including mine." Yugi held a protective hand over the gold, pyramid shaped box with an eye on it that dangled from a cain around his neck attached to a neck collar.

I nodded my head slowly. "You know – he doesn't sound that bad."

They both looked at me as if I was nuts.

"What did he say to you??" Tea asked again.

"I told you before. He said I was pretty but thick."

"Well, anything before he said that?" Yugi asked. I noticed his face turning a little bit red as I looked at him.

"He asked why I was curious to know him." I replied, now looking back down to my saucer.

"That all??"

I nodded again uneasily. Should I really tell them everything?? After all, I was panicking and sweating like mad when I noticed that something was wrong with Ryou. What if this 'Bakura' spirit goes after me again??? I gulped slowly.

"If there's anything else, Charybdis, remember to go straight to us." Tea said.

I nodded. "Sure thing, guys. I promise."

o

Yugi and Tea left before dinner, I watched them leave, waving to them and mum calling from behind me if they would like to stay for dinner next time.

His words were still burning my thoughts.

_You were curious to know me??_

I'm not........

_I like you, girl, you're not very smart, but you're pretty._

I shivered.

_Your friend of yours doesn't seem very aware of who I am. _

Oh, I'm very aware now.

_She seemed quite interested in knowing me before. _

I'm not now...............

I'M NOT NOW!!!!!!!!!!

"Charybdis! What are you screaming about??" Mum shouted at me.

Reality sent me crashing back. What? Huh? Eh??

"Nothing mum, sorry. I'm just tired." I replied, before trotting back upstairs and flinging myself back on the bed.

I took my diary out, which was locked and hidden under my pillow, and unlocked it using my special key which I wore around my neck.

_Today I've met the scariest guy ever. His name is Bakura, and he dwells inside Ryou's Millennium Ring. He said I was pretty, which made me blush and said I was stupid which made me feel insulted. This guy clearly terrified me, but I managed to keep my cool, and didn't show nay fear out. He certainly wanted me to be scared, but now I think he admires my boldness towards him when I even had the nerve to shout at him. Judging by his actions I can tell Bakura is 100 percent evil. _

o

I skated to school by my own, not watching my step as I nearly skated into Duke and Tristan at the school gates. Luckily, they grabbed my hands and pulled me back up to my balance.

"Whoa! Hold it there, Happy Boo." Tristan said. "Keep your eyes on the road."

I didn't even glare at him.

"What's wrong?" Duke asked.

"Nothing, have you guys seen Joey??"

They both shook their heads. "Is this about what happened between you and Bakura?"

I looked at them both. "Yeah, I guess so."

"You're scared huh?"

"No!" I shouted, before lowering my tone. "I mean, not really. Sorry."

"Hey, it's okay, Charybdis, you've had quite a shock." Duke replied.

I sighed. "Thanks guys. I'll go look for Tea." I skated past them, still looking at the ground.

"Poor girl, she really is scared." Tristan said.

"I'm not scared!!" I fumed, turning my whole body to them and raising a closed fist.

"Charybdis! Watch out!"

I turned back.

SMACK!!!

I crashed into the goalpost of the nearby football pitch and slumped down after toppling over. I sighed, and Tristan and Duke ran over to me. Tristan grabbed my arms, and Duke helped my feet on the ground. I sniffled noisily.

"Charybdis! Your nose is bleeding!"

"Do you wanna go to the medical room??"

I nodded. My head felt bad. I felt the warm liquid splash down my lips, and I licked it up unconsciously. Tristan placed me down on the seat while the nurse came and cleaned my face up. I hadn't rally noticed how much force it was when I smacked into the metal pole.

The nurse told me to stay there while she went to the closet to get some more tissue for my nose which hadn't stopped bleeding yet.

Tristan and Duke were now going to up to their classes. The bell just rang five minutes ago, and I'm sitting here in my pink uniform which is stained with a few drops of blood.

I suddenly heard the nurse talking again – but not to me. I pulled the curtain covering my bed away a little – to see Ryou with a bleeding arm. The nurse was helping him blot out the blood. Ryou whimpered a little as she applied a dressing onto it.

"I know it stings, Ryou, but you'll just have to bear with it." She said.

I was just watching intently. Not even noticing the mess I've made on the pillow of the bed. The nurse spotted me.

"Goodness me, Charybdis!" She said, and finished tying Ryou's dressing before coming to my aid.

She ripped a tissue, and cleaned my nose of dried blood, before giving me another tissue and vanishing back inside her office. I wrapped it up, and had to put it in my bleeding nostril in hope it'll stop.

"Don't worry, Charybdis, I think it'll stop soon." The nurse said before she entered her office.

Ryou wandered over to me. "What happened to you, Charybdis?"

"I hit a pole, what about you?" I took the tissue away, to see it with dried up blood. Finally, the nose bleed had stopped.......

He touched his arm. "I cut it by accident. I'd better get to class now." He stepped away from me, and hurriedly scurried up past the other empty beds and almost past the doors.

A faint glow appeared from Ryou's chest and I gasped as soon as I saw Ryou shivering with fear again. Oh no, not him!! Yes. Bakura walked back up to me. His piercing brown gaze was now staring right at me. It's so.... Irrestibible...... I got a hold of myself and slapped myself mentally.

"What do you want now?" I asked, glaring at him. I didn't move from the bed.

"What's your name, mortal?" he asked.

"Charybdis." I replied bluntly. "Hmm, let's see, you're going to demand why I hang around with the 'Pharaoh' and the rest, and – "

"Quiet." He said – not as harsh as before, but a lot gentler. I felt sick and once again my heart thumped like crazy. I gagged a little.

"What's wrong, girl? Your heart thumping too hard because you're afraid of me that you've also started to cough?"

Stupid mind reader....... Wait, I don't think he could read my mind.

"No." I coughed. "I-I'm not afraid of you."

"Yes you are." He replied, grinning.

"No I'm not." I replied.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not!"

"No you're not."

"I am so!!" I covered my mouth shut.

God! Why did I fall for that lame trick I see in cartoons and movies all the time??!! I hung my head down in defeat.

He snickered evilly and sat down beside me. "I do enjoy playing with your puny mind, girl."

"I'm not puny." I mumbled.

_He's just playing with your mind....... He's just playing with your mind....... He's just playing with your mind....... He's just playing with your mind....... _

"Then what are you then??"

"I.... don't know." I bit my lip. "What is your game anyway??" I asked, as I glanced at him from the corner of my eye.

"I'm not playing anything." He simply replied.

"I already told you my name. So stop calling me 'girl' all the time!" I snapped, before raising my head to him.

He looked at me coldly, I glared at him back. I'm not losing to this loser!

"So why don't you just gedda hell lost and return Ryou." I mumbled the words. I couldn't believe I was saying that.

My heart was about to break out from my ribcage and it felt painful. He glanced at me again, before chuckling.

"You think you're so threatening, girl......"

"..................." I bit my lip once more and stared at the ground.

"I honestly don't know why I put up with you."

"Then don't put up with me then." I snapped.

He moved over to me a little and I immediately shrank back.

"You are afraid, very afraid..........."

"Shut up!!" I screamed, I clasped my hands over my ears to blot out his stupid damn words. "Shut up!!!!"

Immediately I felt myself being pulled into his embrace. His hands unclasped my hands from my ears and brought it to the side. He pressed his cold lips onto mine and I sniffled. My eyes were wide with shock and fear. His eyes were closed.

My first kiss..... Was given to a dead person!!!! I sobbed hard..... at least he didn't taste like a dead person.... WHOA HOLD THE PHONE!! WHAT AM I SAYING????

I struggled feebly, noticing how strong he actually was, I was suffocating if I didn't detach my lips off his. It wasn't like as though I had an option either since he didn't want me to pull away. Well, if he was going to play it like that, then.....

I bit roughly onto his bottom lip, and he immediately sprang back, either glaring at me or worrying about his lip.

His lips were bleeding, thanks to me, and I shifted away from him as far as possible, in fact, I pushed him back on the bed and darted out from the Medical Ward, ignoring the nurse who was shouting at me to come back.

I glanced back behind, to see him licking his own blood off his lips and smirking. God – he enjoyed it!! I trembled, shivered and ran towards my classroom – and smacked into the door.

"Charybdis!" The teacher shouted at me as he opened the door to reveal me on my back with a red mark on my face.

Joey clambered his way through past the teacher and helped me up. "Why ya in such a hurry, Gurlie? Tristan and Duke tol' me that you had a nosebleed this morning."

I nodded, looking at Tristan and Duke who were also helping me up.

"My nosebleed stopped ages ago." I muttered.

"Hey, where's Ryou?? I saw him going to the Medical Room after you did."

I shivered. "I - I saw him a while ago, I...I think he's still there."

"What's that red thing on your lip – blood??" Tea pointed out and handed me her compact mirror.

His blood – were stained on my lips. I screeched the whole place down and Yugi gave me a tissue to wipe it off.

o

Ryou didn't turn up during interval. I was relieved, still aware that the one who had taken my first kiss could be lurking nearby. But does that mean that I have to avoid Ryou now?

I was quite the whole time also. I needed a plan to get rid of Ryou's Millennium Ring, although Tristan once told me that it seemed to come and go with no logical explanation, I needed to get a hold of it – and probably fling it into oblivion..... For temporary.

o

_Can't believe what's happened today, not only was I kissed by an evil psycho, but - I was having a go at Tristan's new mountain bike after school, he let me sit on it and feel how it felt to have a bike since I could only get roller sates, so I glanced down at the pedals, and I pushed, not noticing that I couldn't even touch the pedals. I almost hit an old lady while the bike ran out of control down a steep hill, turned a sharp 90 degrees when I almost bumped into a tree thanks to my 'excellent' steering abilities – until I eventually rode to the high street, rode down with no control, hit a kerb and finally sail out from the seat and fly over the handlebars down the road where I skidded to a halt on my right elbow which I had to drag on the pavement to stop me from falling any farther down into the road filled with busy cars, my left leg crushed under the bike and my hands all charred and the skin ripped from the bone from the force of friction. _

_Duke, Tristan and Joey – the guys who had probably seen everything had to call Callista since mum and dad was busy with a client that time. But as soon as Callista saw the mess of me, she went total BALLISTIC and INSANE and phoned mum and dad, and also called an ambulance. They came over too and went TOTALLY MAD and CRAZY. _

_The only thing I recall was Tristan talking to Callista and Joey by my side in the ambulance with mum. Dad and Callista had to go home, Duke and Tristan stayed to call the others, and I was stuck with an unbearably pain in the elbows, bleeding hands and legs in front of Joey who was telling me a bedtime story since I wasn't calming down. Mum was extremely impressed and was talking to Joey afterwards. She asked him – "Are you Charybdis' boyfriend?'. I felt my cheeks go red – which was fortunately camouflaged from my scrapes and bleeding cuts, and I remember Joey's boisterous laughing, he was scratching his blonde hair which reminded me of a mop dyed yellow and he was about to answer when........_

I woke up later in the hospital bed, with a cast over my right arm and another cast over my left leg. I had bandages over my hands, even over my fingernails. A nurse was next to my bed checking my report and soon took my temperature, stuffing a thermometer into my mouth, and then roughly pulling it out from my mouth still with all my spit and some blood. She muttered something, then the doctors came and they examined my hand and leg, explained that I had taken 'a nasty fall' and 'to never do that again, little girl'. They had already x – rayed my head, arm and leg to see if I had broken any bones – I'd broken my nose, leg and arm – DUH. They also said I was lucky not to have damaged my skull during the accident – or I would probably be brain damaged. They scolded me for not wearing a helmet.

I asked another nurse nearby if I could get a mirror when they were gone and noticed that I had a plaster over my cheeks, forehead and chin. I hadn't noticed how much I had cut from the fall. I handed her back the mirror and muttered my thanks, before spotting dad and Callista coming over to me. The nurses allowed them to have 5 minutes of visiting hours before I needed a rest badly.

"Charybdis! You stupid brat! How could you be so stupid to ride a stupid bike you couldn't even ride properly! God can't you use some common sense in your stupid brain of yours to - " Callista shouted at me, before thumping me on the head with her clenched fist. She screamed in aggression, remembering to lower her voice in hospitals.

I winced. "Ooooow... Don't hit me there! It hurts!" I rubbed my bandaged hand over my hair.

"But she's right, Charybdis..... What were you thinking????" Dad said.

I looked down, and suddenly dad had bopped me on the head and shouting the same thing Callista had screamed at me before. I wished mum was here right now. She'd probably understand how lousy and stupid I feel. But she wasn't since she received a call from the clinic for an important meeting.

I was afraid when the doctors said I had to stay for a few days here. I looked around the beds to see other patients about my age or older lying in beds, some staring at me or looking at the TV at the end of the room which was showing 'Pingu' because someone had set it to the children's channel. GREAT.


	5. Noticing the Change

**Heyz ppl!**

Thank you Yamachanis myman anddrkmagiciangrl123 and other silent readers out there (if there is lol).

Charybdis' name is pronounced 'Kar - Ib - Dis by the way - just in case!

I'm glad you like my story so far!

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**Chapter 5 Noticing the Change**

It was boring in hospital, just lying in bed with something weird supporting my leg. I was surrounded by sick people and was stuck watching baby and boring shows like 'EastEnders' and 'Balamory'. Honestly, can't they show anything decent on?

_Oh well, at least I got some days off school. Yugi and Joey came to me visit me frequently, about twice a day. They cheered me up a lot. They brought me some get well gifts on some of their visits. Serenity even came and gave me some flowers which I thought was really sweet, and Yugi gave me a basket of fruit and Joey gave me a BIG basket of flowers and fruit – which I found really, really sweet. Tea, Duke and Tristan brought cards and the occasional chocolate bars and other candies I wasn't allowed, and also scolded me for being so stupid for riding Tristan's bike. Luckily he wasn't furious that I'd scratched his bike, I still felt guilty though. Mum had asked the school for some work for me to do while I lay in hospital so I was trapped there still having memories of school and doing Pythagoras and algebra. _

Ryou hadn't come yet.

I spoke too soon.

It was the third day of resting in hospital. I was busy enjoying a chocolate orange Serenity brought me a day ago and was watching 'Countdown', before I saw him waddling up to me with a small smile on his place.

"Hi Charybdis. I heard about your accident, so I decided to come and visit you." He said, standing next to my bed.

I smiled under my bandaged head. "Thanks Ryou, you shouldn't have." Secretly under my squiggly smile, I was approximately 50 percent nervous and worried.

"Oh but I must, here, I brought you a card and some flowers." He gingerly placed the bouquet and card in my bandaged hands.

"Aww.... That's so sweet of you!" I chirped nonchalantly, before setting it on the table. "Thank you."

He blushed a little after I smiled at him again. I stared at the Millennium Ring hard, before predicting that it was going to glow soon and Bakura was going to be standing in his place, glowering over me. It actually happened in a spilt second, that was quite a fast speed I had to admit.

"What happened to you, girl?" He asked.

I don't get it. If he asked for my name, why won't he use it?

"I'm asking you a question."

I turned back. "Oh... uh... I had a little accident."

He fingered my bandages on my hand, and stared at my cast. "I don't think that's so 'little'."

"I fell off Tristan's bike, went flying down the road with the bike crushing me under and scraped all my skin off."

"Poor you." He sniggered.

"Yeah, poor me, poor, poor me." I muttered turning my head back to the television where I secretly bit my lip hard.

"I still haven't got you for what you did in the medical Ward."

I flinched.

"......But I forgive you."

I breathed a sigh of relief, before focusing on the pendant in front of his chest. "..... Is that real gold?"

"Of course it is, you dimwit!" He barked at me as he sat down on the chair. "Tell me, is that accident to your head also affected your brain, or are you always like that?"

"I'm always like this."

"You doubt yourself a lot, girl."

"Yeah, so?"

He sniggered again, before looking at me again.

"Don't you have anything else to do? Like insult Yugi or something?" I asked.

He smirked. "You know girl, it's quite nice talking to someone like you. You make me feel safe and calm when you're here."

"Oh joy." I said, glancing at him. "Haven't you ever had any friends before?"

He glared at me a little, before shaking his head slightly. "I don't need friends."

"Gee.... I guess you're kinda lonely, huh?" I said.

OH MY GOD. WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAY?? Oh god, this psychology thing _does_ run in my family. Next, I'm probably interviewing him or something!

"Yes... and no." he replied.

"You know, you could be Ryou's friend if you didn't hurt him that much."

Wrong thing to say.

"Shut up girl! I don't need you to tell me what to do!" He barked at me.

"Fine! Don't listen to me then!" I shouted back to him. We both glared at each other, and the nurse came over to us.

"Do you mind, please remember to keep your voices down! This is a hospital!" She whispered. "....And your visiting time is over."

Bakura changed back to Ryou, and he smiled at me again, before walking out the doors.

o

_That encounter wasn't as bad as I thought it'll be. I just know that Bakura is probably a little boy who needs friends, support, a family and love – not my love of course. I think he feels lukewarm towards me. Speaking of friends had angered him though. He probably might hurt me the next time if I bring that subject back up again – and talking about Yugi – I mean the Pharaoh, just makes him go creepy and abusive. He is one heck of a psycho – to be honest. _

The days passed in the hospital, and my cuts healed faster than my arm and leg. I didn't need a cast for the arm anymore. I could move it steadily, but my writing needed some more help now. I had to get crutches for my leg.

Limping to school on the Monday was awful. I was late for class – but the teacher didn't mind because she also heard about the accident. I felt my cheeks burn red as she said that in front of the class.

I still had a few marks from the cuts and scrapes but they don't hurt that much now. Every boy in my class was helping me around in classes. I felt really stupid then – I didn't want that attention, let alone having Joey carry me up the stairs to the library bridal style.

"_Coming through here! Girl with broken leg coming through!!" He yelled up the stairs._

_He was carrying me again, his arm around my shoulder and another under my knees. I cringed terribly as I saw other students who were going up the stairs stopping in their tracks, staring at us before moving to the side to let Joey through. _

_I looked behind us, poor Yugi was carrying my heavy crutches and Tea was trying to help him. _

"_Honestly." I told Joey, looking at him. "You don't have to, I could limp up." _

"_Yeah, but ya could get trampled by this stampede. It's dangerous, Gurlie." He replied. _

_I raised my eyebrow. "Sure, whatever....." It felt quite nice being carried......._

..... And Tristan and Duke deliberately holding my hands and crutches when I was just going to open a classroom door, Ryou offering his hand to me when I had to get out of my desk and even Yugi helping me out by staying by my side when I limped to the vending machine. It was embarrassing..... Every girl was either jealous or feeling ignored by me. I felt awful, truly awful.

Tea helped me too sometimes; she helped me fend off the guys when they offered me help when I didn't need help, my mind couldn't cope with too much. It was her auditions today for the Talent Show, and I felt bad for not coming to see her audition because I had to see the doctor, but Tea didn't mind.

I handed my permit in before 6th period, Joey and Duke by my side because they wanted to help me down the stairs – luckily I managed to go down by myself.

Ryou and Tristan were going to watch her audition while Yugi had to go backstage because he was helping out for the Talent Show – while I was stuck sitting on the bed in front of a lady doctor examining my leg.

"It'll heal soon." She said, sitting back on her chair and looking as I lifted my legs slowly off the bed.

"Um... how long is soon?" I asked.

"About... 4 - 7 days or so."

Great. Just great. Another week of unwanted attention.

o

"What?? Uncle David, Uncle Billy, Aunt Kat, Aunt Nat, Aunt Lin, Uncle Steven and Uncle Stephen are coming over for Christmas??" I asked, my jaw dropped and my eyes widened.

God, talking about half of my relatives made me go breathless. Mum and dad smiled.

"Don't forget they'll be bringing their children long too, apart from Uncle David, you know that."

"So you're saying that Uncle Bill's annoying twins are coming too??" Callista groaned.

"Yup. It's a family reunion."

"I hate reunions." Callista moaned.

"Now, now Callista, just because our family is coming over – "

"It's not that, dad. All you grown ups always talk together – and I have to play with the little cousins." I whined.

"I thought you liked playing with them."

"Well I did _before _they were 10 years old. Michelle's gonna scream at me to kiss her stupid dolly like how she made me a year ago at easter, and Jon and Don are going to annoy me again, and Shannon's going to mess up my stuff, and Ray is going to blackmail me and – "I ranted on and on throughout dinner.

_I hated family reunions as much as Callista did. That was something we had in common – the only thing probably. Each Christmas or summer vacation one of mum or dad's brother or sister will pop up to our bit, taking their annoying children with them and making me suffer for a week or something playing with them all day or taking them to stupid petting zoos where you saw animals asleep or making faces at you behind their wretched cages or watching 'Tweenies' on TV (that's another children's program by the way)._

_Well, now that Callista is 21, she gets to hang around with the uncles and aunties. She'll get to go down with them to the nearby pub or something, and I'll get left to take care of the kids – not. That's never happened before. But it did once during New Year._

o

"I can't believe this. Some of my relatives from my Family tree are going to coming over this Christmas. I know it's nice to be with your family that time, but it's too much."

It was a sunny afternoon today. Yugi and I were walking home together from school. I was ranting again over what I had said yesterday to mum and dad at dinner, making sure Yugi was listening because I needed to someone to hear me out. He would occasionally nod or go 'mm – hmm'. I limped over a manhole, and looked over at him. "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, you do know that the school's holding a Christmas Party, don't you?" He asked.

I nodded, and limped over a stone.

"Tell your family that you want to spend your Christmas with us then, I mean, you moved here last year, after Christmas."

"Yeah... I see what you mean. I haven't spent any Christmas' before with friends, I spend all my Christmas' with my family – it wouldn't hurt this year not to spend Christmas with them this year..... I suppose." I added. ".... Or would it?"

He shrugged. "That's really up to you, Charybdis."

"Thanks Yugi." Limped over a gutter. "I really appreciate your help. You're a good friend!"

He blushed furiously then.

"Aww..... Did I embarrass you??" I asked teasingly, grinning at him.

He shook his head slightly, and then nodded. "You're a good friend to me and the rest too."

I couldn't help but smile. "You know.... When I was small.... I never had any friends because we kept moving house, I only had Callista to play with – but that was when she was nice. She's all moany now."

".... Are you going to move again then??" He asked worriedly.

I shook my head. "No, of course not silly. I like it here, my mum and dad like it here. Callista likes it here too because she's got a boyfriend who lives here."

I thought I spotted a faint glow coming from Yugi, rubbed my tired eyes and shrugged.

"How is your leg?" Yugi said, his voice deeper than usual.

I looked at him again. "It hurts a little when I bend it, but its fine."

_He's gone different again. I can't explain it, but there's something wrong with Yugi......_

"How does it feel..... When you're duelling out there?" I asked absentmindedly, looking at the clear blue sky.

He looked at me, and thought for a while. "It feels.... Like an honour."

"An honour, huh?" I smiled, raising my eyebrow. "That sounds nice. You must be very brave to stand out there and duel people for the fate of the world."

"Yes, I guess you could say that." He replied back.

The sudden ring from a bicycle bell filled through the empty street, and we both turned round to see a man on a bicycle riding towards us at full speed.

"Watch out!" The biker yelled.

o

_Within seconds I had seen the biker yelling at me to move and his bike coming faster and closer, I had totally frozen up all over in my tracks and I couldn't find any energy in my arms to move my crutches and to limp away. _

_It had just seemed as though time had suddenly become slower for me. I felt two strong hands grip around my tiny waist and pull me back just in time when the biker almost sped past my foot, my crutches falling to the ground. I let myself fall too, and fell backwards on top of Yugi on the hard, cold pavement. My head resting on his chest, his back flat on the ground. I felt his heartbeat dramatically increasing. Time had also returned to its original speed._

"_Are you alright, Charybdis?" He asked. _

_I moved my eyes up and stared into his sharp deep pools of purple, then nodded slowly and noticed that I was probably squashing him. I got off his body slowly, hoping not to hurt my leg but I heard the bone crack slightly and I yelped, before searching for my crutches. I got up with one hand and stood up and held out my other hand to help him back onto his feet. _

_He stared at my hand, then at me like as if I was some angel from above._

"_Oh Yugi, I'm so sorry." I apologised. "Are you okay?? I must've squashed you like a bug." _

_He nodded and grasped my outstretched hand tightly; I noticed how much strength it had to take to pull him up with one hand. I felt my nerves disconnect from my hands._

Whatever happened back there sounded like a scene from a fairytale or love story or something like that. I felt my heartbeat rising like mad too – probably because I was going to get into another accident involving with bicycles – or was it?


	6. The Most Dimwitted Plan of Plans Ever

Aaack!! What is mary-Sue? Does it mean that my character is going wack or something? Please tell, I'd be pleased to hear you out to make my story better! Thanks for reviewing. I hope you enjoy it so far - I just also hope its not going down to totally unlike how the plot is supposed to be!

Also, I'm sort of new to Yu-Gi-Oh. I've seen the Duelist Kingdom series - well, not the first few episodes but I'm catching up slowly. I'm also currently watching the brand new series - Waking the Dragons. I've missed several episodes of Battle City Finals - including the ones where Yugi (Yami too) beat evil Marik. Nooo! I missed the episodes where its the most best. I feel so angry and distraught, not to mention guilty!!

I'm sorry if Bakura isn't really acting the way he should - I wasn't sure whether if I wanted him to be so violent and harsh towards Charybdis. I don't really like writing battling or dueling scenes, I hope you can forgive me! I also get mega shy why its fluff too - sorry!

**Chapter 6 **

**Exorcism, Shopping and Mokie**

Tea and I had made plans to go shopping today. We were sitting in the Central Park during a Friday afternoon at lunchtime, licking ice cream we bought. The rest had remained in school, so we could have a girl – to - girl talk without any disturbances.

"Are you sure you want to go **tomorrow**?" She asked me curiously, staring at my cast.

I nodded. "I don't like being stuck at home with a cast during the weekend, come on Tea, please???" I asked her.

She looked away thoughtfully while licking her strawberry ice cream. "Umm.... Okay, as long as you have your parent's permission."

I sweat dropped. "Tea!"

She giggled. "I was only joking Charybdis! Sure, we'll go out to town tomorrow."

oooooooooo

"Huh?? What's this??" I limped over from the school gates to a large bush to see a large amount of black leaves behind. I riffled through the leaves with my hand gently, and the leaves moved a little, before revealing itself to be a raven – haired boy.

"FLOPPING FLOTSAMS!!!" I shrieked, almost toppling over until he caught my hand and pulled me back up to my feet.

"Surprise!!" He chirped cheerfully.

".... Mokie??"

"Hi Charybdis!" He said.

"Mokie! What are you doing here?!" I asked as I regained my balance. "Oh... are you looking for Seto?"

He walked out from the bush, and over to me, shaking his head slightly so his hair swayed. "I...uh... wanted to go to the Park with you today – if that's okay with you?"

"Sure, why not?"

_His real name is Mokuba, I just like to call him Mokie for short. It's pretty weird how I ended up becoming good friends with Seto Kaiba, owner and president of Kaiba Corp. _

_I met Mokie, when I spotted him a few months ago standing by himself outside the School Gates for quite some time, and so I had skated over to him._

"_Hey kiddo, what are you doing here by yourself?" I asked, hoping I wasn't being too nosy. _

_He looked at me. "I'm waiting for someone."_

"_Um.... Who is it you're looking for??"_

_He shook his head slightly. "Never mind. Well, I better be going now, bye." _

_I watched him trot away from the school gates, and soon enough, I found myself skating back over to him when he paused at the road. _"_Are you by yourself, kiddo?" _

_He nodded slowly. _

"_Here, what's your name? I'll take you home."_

"_My name's Mokuba, but there's really no need.... Er...."_

"_I'm called Charybdis, a student at Domino. Are you sure you're okay just going home by yourself?"_

_He stared at me hard. "Well, if you insist."_

_ooooooooo_

_We spent the time talking about each other, our hobbies etc and noticed we had some things in common – like duelling. So, we went to the Central Park since we weren't in a hurry to get home and had a small duel. I lost of course, with my deck of cute and weak monsters Tea gave me as a small gift. Mokuba won handily, he had the rarest and probably the strongest cards I had ever seen. _

"_My brother gave me them. He gets me everything I want." He replied once I had asked him._

_Gee, he sounds rather spoilt - and suggesting by his age - which was probably 7 or something - he could become a** spoiled** brat_

"_Cool." I replied as we headed to the road past Central Park. "Your brother must really care for you." __I thought about Callista, how she would never use her pocket money and her earned cash from work to get me something. I saw Mokuba's face fall a little._

"_What's wrong Mokie?"_

_He cringed a little when I said that, but straightened himself up and shook his head. "Nothing, Charybdis." _

_"You don't mind me calling you that, do you?"_

_He shook his head again._

_I patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Come on, I'd better take you home as soon as possible." __I reached over, took his hand and we walked (or skated for me) down the street until we saw a very large building._

"_We're here!" Mokie said, leading us to the front door. _

_My eyes almost popped out. "You live here?????"_

"_Well, I'm meeting Seto here." _

"_As in... Seto Kaiba??" president of Kaiba Corp. Coooooool. _

_He nodded._

"_Wow........" I choked breathlessly._

_I waved goodbye to him, and turned to skate back until Mokie ran over to me._

"_Uh... will I see you again, Charybdis?" He asked._

_I nodded. "Sure kiddo, I'll be at Domino High, you could come over during home time, wait for me outside the gates. I'll be there." I ruffled through his thick hair again, before waving again. _

ooooooooooo

We had another duel – I lost – again, but I didn't find it surprising anymore. We played a bit of hide and seek in the park. We bought ice cream and other sorts of goods and candies from the ice cream van. We took a few walks around the park and looked at the scenery.

"Don't let go of my hand, Charybdis!" Mokie cried out desperately as I guided him slowly on the road.

"Mokie, you're doing fine on your own!" I replied.

I was trying to teach Mokie how to skate. Luckily, I always took my skates with me in a small bag in case. He was using my skates, and I was holding his hand and leading him around slowly in case he fell, remember, I still had a broken leg so it was really s-l-o-w. He was pretty darn good, and could manage when I let go sometimes. The skate's size was a bit too big for him, which I found was the problem.

"Here Mokie, I think you should take my skates off, they're too big for ya. I don't want you falling and hurting yourself."

He sighed. "Alright." And he sat down on the bench and untied the laces. "What happened to your leg by he way?"

"My leg?? Oh, I had a nasty fall with a bike. It's getting better now, don't worry. I could walk with one crutch." I replied. "Well, I've gotta to go now, Mokie. I've got tons of homework to do." I replied, also thinking of my plans with Tea tomorrow.

I put my skates inside my duffle bag and placed it around my shoulder.

"Okay. I'll go home by myself today; I'll call Wilson to pick me up." He smiled, before waving at me as I limped out from Central Park.

ooooooo

_Had an afternoon today of playing and monkeying around with Mokie at the Central Park. I taught him how to skate, eat cookies the right way and how to defend himself. Yes, I used to take Tae Kwon Do when I was small, not now though. I taught him how to punch and kick with a casted leg – making sure he learns only to use it when he was in trouble. In return, Mokie taught me how to duel – the hard stuff I don't all know and understand, we bought almost all the sweets from the ice cream van – resulting me using up almost my pocket money – but who cares? I could apply for a job. _

Thinking about jobs and money, I looked inside my purse. Phew, I still had a couple of £20 notes and a few £10 notes. I counted it them all. I had a total of £80, hmmm, not bad at all.

I leapt onto my bed, and snuggled into the covers, before reaching for my mobile and dialling Tea's number.

The line was still in the dialling tone, before going blank. "Shoot! She must be at Supported Study with Yugi!" I said, before looking at the clock which sad 4:45pm.

Something weird had just popped up in my mind.

Spirits – after I had several encounters with Ryou's spirit, Bakura. I've never really been afraid of him, even if he has shouted and even hurt me before. I'm not afraid anymore.

In fact, I haven't even been afraid of spirits ever since they all told me that Ryou had an evil spirit inside him. Why??

I even said 'Cool!'

I'm just an average everyday teenager who gets zits, stupid crushes and allergies. So.... Why didn't I freak out like how normal people would?

"Mum, dad, why ain't I afraid of ghosts?" I asked them.

Callista stared at me as if I was mad. "Like, why are you bringing up that subject up?"

I shrugged. "I.... don't know actually."

She ignored me and continued to eat. I looked at mum and dad.

"Charybdis, why ARE you asking that anyway?"

"I uh.... There's an... you know, um... an evil spirit possessing my friends, and I was just wondering, why I'm not scared of it." I replied.

God, even the question sounded stupid. I felt really dumb now.

"Perhaps it's because, you're... brave, like dad?" Mum replied.

I thought. Dad was brave?? Yeah, he was. He squished a huge spider which was terrorising my wall with its creepy walk of 8 legs once. He saved my beanie babies from the tumble dryer because mum had accidentally put it into the washing basket to be dried.

"Charybdis, are you okay?" Dad asked me as I had gone quiet.

"Huh?? I'm fine, Dad........ Oh yeah...... you guys named me after a monster!" I yelled. (A/N Search for 'Charybdis' in any dictionary, you'll see!)

Mum and dad looked at me in confusion, and Callista burst out laughing.

"Charybdis!! The vicious whirlpool with a ravenous mouth that would eat any passing boat and lived near Scylla in Greek Mythology! We were learning that in History today- and everyone was staring at me!" I shouted angrily.

"You're right Charybdis, you are a monster." Callista said.

I glared at her and mum and dad shrugged.

oooooooooo

Still seething from the monster comment Callista said about me, I pounded my pillow hard, squeezed my stress ball that it was distorted from its usual shape and battered up my dollies, before bashing my bean bag up as I sat down on it. feeling extra crummy, I cursed under my breath, wonderfully censored words to make me feel better. Indeed it did. It felt as if a lot of pressure had got off me. I contemplated for a while.

_Spirits_...........

I know!!!!

I shrieked, holding my arms high above my head as if a spotlight had shined down on me. "I'LL HELP RYOU EXORCISE BAKURA!!!!!"

But then I sat down after thinking about my 'glorious' idea and was deep in thought. What if Ryou didn't want Bakura to be exorcised? What about Bakura? He wouldn't like to be exorcised, would he? but, I'd be doing everyone a favour. Ryou wouldn't be harmed anymore, everyone would be safe, including me. Bakura needed to move on – yeah – that's what!! And – I never knew how to exorcise properly – I only watched in the sidelines when grandma summoned things.

"I'LL HELP BAKURA MOVE ON!!!!"

"Charybdis! Stop yelling!" Callista shouted, poking her head through my door.

oooooooooo

Now feeling absolutely cheerful, I ransacked through Grandma's old books which were in the attic. She always had an interest in the paranormal world, and was a medium herself – still was, still is. She's now living a ghost-free healthy life in Hong Kong with her two pet dogs and grandpa. I fished out a large thick book which looked interesting. I flipped the pages open; it was amazing that it wasn't dusty because they were locked in a chest with a couple of mothballs.

"Egyptian tarot – the Thoth......." I looked at it, feeling somehow attracted to the pictures of the cards. I even found a deck of them and the original Rider Waite deck with her books.

I removed them out from her chest, and trotted back into my room, locking the door and setting the books on the floor. Ryou, I'll help you soon to get rid of Bakura, I thought all the way through when I started to read a book on divination.

oooooooo

"Ryou!" I shouted, once I had spotted him walking up the stairs. I limped over to him and he turned round.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as I stopped puffing and panting from the enormous amount of strength I needed to get up the wretched stairs.

"I... (wheezes) I wanted to.... Tell you and - (snorts) I mean, that I - (coughs croakily)"

"Gurlie!" I heard the voice shout at us. We both turned to see Joey pacing over. "Why didn't you tell me to carry you up the stairs?" He asked angrily.

"Its okay, Joey, really. I'm fine." I replied, turning back to Ryou as Yugi and Tea came over to us.

"I've got something to tell you all......." I said. "I... found a way.... To get rid of the sprit in Ryou's Millennium Ring!"

"WHAT??!!"

They all gawked at me.

ooooooooo

They were all staring at me as I explained it to them at home after school. Luckily no one had any detention today so I managed to invite them all to my house. Callista had gone out to ton with her friends and dad had another client.

"It's so nice to have you all here. I hope you enjoy your tea and biscuits, kids." Mum said.

I cringed. That line sounded familiar as she said that – we're not 'kids' anymore.

Duke and Tristan were playing with (or laughing at) my beanie baby collection of dolls which were displayed on my double bed. Joey was just lounging on my desk chair beside the window drinking a coke and only Ryou, Tea and Yugi were sitting down opposite me on my rug near the door and next to my bad – the only ones who wanted to listen to me.

"What was the thing you had said earlier?" Ryou asked me.

"I found a way to get rid of the spirit inside the Millennium Ring." I replied, eyeing the object which was just lying beside Ryou.

"Since when did you learn to exorcise?" Duke asked, looking over at us with my limited edition panda doll in his hands. "And I thought Bakura was in the Shadow Realm."

"You're only 16 years old, Charybdis." Tristan added. "You're only just a girl - at high school too."

I decided to ignore the Shadow Realm question and Tristan's er.... speech and concentrated on something else. "I done a bit of excorcism before, since I was 10, I used to watch my grandma summon spirits and exorcise evil things."

"Are you sure about this?" Tea asked worriedly. "I mean – will it _work_?"

"It might.... We'll have to take risks." I replied, I was starting to get rather nervous about this whole exorcism thing.

"No way, Gurlie. I'm no' lettin' ya do this weird hocus pocus thing." Joey said, looking at me.

"No, I'm okay really. I could manage." I replied. I thought I saw Yugi's face pale when I looked at him. "What's wrong, Yugi?"

"N-N-Nothing." He stammered. "I-I was just wondering..... if the exorcism was a success, would you try to exorcise any other spirits?" He asked.

I shrugged. "It depends, whether they are good spirits or not."

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief. I eyed his Millennium Puzzle suspiciously. "How? Why do you ask? Do you have a spirit hiding in your puzzle or something?" I laughed heartily.

He looked down at the floor.

"Sorry, Yugi. I didn't mean that." I looked at my cup of tea. "What's the Shadow Realm then?"

"Oh ho, you wouldn't wanna be there, Gurlie." Joey said, rocking in the chair.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

They all looked at me, and soon recounted the story of what happened to the battle City Finals.....This part sort of reminded me of Circle Time when I was younger. Everyone in the class would gather their seats up and sit in a circle, then would take turns telling their own opinions, stories, things etc when they recieved the special item to indicate that it was their turn.... In that case, for us - it was my beanie baby. Tristan passed it to Yugi, he passed it to Joey after telling a little and so on.

ooooooooo

"That sounds rather frightening, doesn't it?" I said as I placed the empty cup down back on the saucer.

They all nodded in agreement.

Learning about the Shadow Realm had sort of made me feel extra nervous. I wondered if Bakura could send me to the Shadow Realm. I shivered. I wondered if Yugi could send me to the Shadow Realm. I gulped, and suddenly felt uneasy. "..... Are you sure he's not listening to what we're saying right now??" I asked, pointing to the ring.

Joey shrugged. "We should probably put it outside or somethin'." He was fiddling around with my stationery inside my pen tub.

"Good idea, you could never predict when he'll pop out." Tristan pointed out.

"Hey, I hope you don't throw it out this time, Tristan." Ryou said.

"Relax, Ryou. I'll put it outside Charybdis' door."

He picked it up, and looked at it from the pendant and at the gold triangular shaped gold plates which hung loosely from the ring, before placing it outside my bedroom door. I wrote a small note and stuck it on, saying:

**_Property of Ryou, do not touch – except from Ryou of course._**

"That's done; I don't think he'll hear from there." I said, closing the door shut. "Oh yeah, Ryou?"

"Yes?" The white haired boy asked me.

"When you go to retrieve it back, tell me, okay?" I said.

He nodded and we continued on with our meeting.

oooooooooo

We spent an hour talking about the exorcism, still with no conclusion. Ryou wasn't sure if I could exorcise it, and the rest thought it was dangerous – they had to leave soon too, so the meeting was dismissed and I stuffed my books in my cupboard, where I locked it with another key I kept hanging around my neck. I watched as the others left, waving goodbye to them. Mum was in the kitchen and washing the plates while I returned back upstairs.

_Huh?? I thought Tristan left the Millennium Ring outside my room........ It's gone....._

I scanned the area, before shouting to mum from the stairs. "Mum, did you touch the ring??"

"What ring?" Mum asked.

"The gold ring with this funny eye symbol on it?? I placed outside which had a note attached to it, have you seen it or not??" I asked.

"No Charybdis." Mum replied.

I went back inside my room, pondering where it went – maybe Ryou picked it up before he left?? I didn't see the note left from Ryou. I told him before to tell me when he went to get the ring back.

Something shiny caught my eye from under my bed and next to my rug, near the spot where I was sitting on before. I ducked under to see where the attractive glow came from. I rummaged my hand underneath to find dust and lost socks and found myself gently tracing the features of something round and hard......

I picked it up.

The Millennium Ring.

I dropped it again and it fell on the floor with a soft clatter on the floorboards.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Oh well, that's the end of this chapter. Please review how you like it so far - since this is the time where my story will start to twist with other characters.

I want YOU to be the judge. Just please answer this question, thanks!

Who do you want Charybdis to go with?

Choice A) Charybdis and Joey (Jounouchi)

Choice B) Charybdis and Yami

Or finally, Choice C) Charybdis and Bakura?

Please vote, thank you again!


	7. The Halloween Party

Hiya just a short note beofre the chapter -

I totally agree with what you're saying, Yamachanis myman! It is WEIRD that Charybdis mentions about exorcism – but don't worry – she won't exorcise in the next chapters – god, she doesn't know a bloody thing about it! Oh yeah, thanks for your vote!

I'm also thinking of putting Seto Kaiba in the story later – but he won't even know Charybdis (In chapter 6 she doesn't know him either by the way, she's only heard of him!) Oh yeh – I made a typing error when I wrote in the story that Charybdis being good friends with Seto Kaiba – it was supposed to be Mokuba! Oopsie... (grins nervously and stupidly)

And to drkmagiciangrl123, I know, I don't see a lot of Joey x OC but I'm not very sure whether if they should go together or not – since I've seen that Mai and Joey are quite um.... Well, they sort of hold a connection – get what I mean?

Yup, thank you thank you thank you for voting! I really appreciate it! I'm thinking of writing this story to the end before Xmas, this chapter (The Halloween Party) was especially written for this day! Anywayz, thanks for sticking to my story if it sucks lol! I've been trying hard to make Charybdis definitely not a Mary-Sue. As you can see from the past chapters, Charybdis is:

Lazy (She hates studying and exams)

Quite Anti – Social

Impatient and Loud sometimes

Clumsy (Heck – she tried to become a BMX rider with disastrous results)

Lacking some common sense

She is also quite wary of her surroundings and people

She is also easily angered (another flaw to be shown in the story later on)

Un – independent (Is that even a word??)

You know, coming from the looks of it – Charybdis seems rather careless in her own actions and is confused all the time! Yeah she seems rather immature for a 16 year old, but don't worry – she still has good points too!

Once again – thanks for people who will help me – this is my first time writing a YGO story btw! It's also a tie btw between Bakura and Yami.

Oh yes, I keep forgetting to put the diclaimers for all the chapters I've posted, so here goes!

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh except from my weird character and her family

There we go, all done!

From FishAndChips

Back to da storie now!

**Chapter 7 The Halloween Party! **

The Millennium Ring glowed furiously – maybe it was also representing Bakua's temper?? I found myself trembling as it shook vigorously. Wait – Ryou's gone – so Bakura couldn't get out anyway.

I didn't notice anyone getting the Ring and placing it beside me when we were holding the meeting. I felt myself now deeper in thought. The Millennium Ring might have the power to teleport.....

I suddenly heard a voice in my mind.

_You tried to dispose of me._

I didn't.

_Yes you did, don't deny it, you ignorant mortal. _

I was merely having a private talk with my friends.

_What was so private that I had to be removed from your sight?_

Uh... My collection of beanie babies??

_Don't even think of trying to lie._

What do you want?

_Nothing....._

"Charybdis??" Mum's voice snapped me out from my thoughts with the Millennium Ring and I turned round to look at her.

"Yes mum?" I asked.

"Dinner will be ready in 15 minutes."

"I'll be down soon, mum."

She returned to the kitchen and I blocked my conversation with Bakura by thinking how hot Orlando Bloom and Brad Pitt was, then picking the Ring up gently, and staring at it for a moment or two, I stood up, collecting my crutches and limping down.

"Mum, I'm going to Ryou's, he forgot to take something from my room."

o

I made my way to his house, watching the sun almost setting from the horizon, and tried my best to limp faster. The Millennium Ring was dangling around my neck – wrong thing to put on.

_You'd better hurry up, girl. _

Shut up, I'm trying my best to limp over to your owner's house. If you had a broken leg, you'd understand, idiot.

_Watch who're you're calling 'idiot'. _

Whatever......

I finally arrived outside Ryou's house and I pressed the doorbell. He opened the door slowly, before opening it out fully.

"Charybdis!" He said.

"You left your Ring at my place. Here you go." I took it off – well tried, but the string clamped onto my skin hard and I found myself tugging at my skin. The pendant wasn't attached, but the string over my collar bone above my t - shirt stuck onto me like superglue. "What the - ?????"

I pulled it again, and it ripped out a little. I screamed. "Yow!! What the hell????!!!!!"

"Are you alright?? What's happening to the ring?? Why isn't it coming off???" Ryou asked desperately, noticing how fiercely I was trying to get the wretched thing off.

"I – I don't know."

Somewhere in my mind, it felt as if I was fighting with this unknown force that was attached to my arms and legs.

_I won't go._

Oh yes, you are! You belong to Ryou!

_No, I don't. In fact, I prefer staying around **your **neck, girl – rather than that weakling. _

GEROFF!!

I ripped it out, and soon the ring came off finally. Ryou noticed my red marks where the string was around my neck. (A/N Soz if that part dun make a lot of sense)

"Oh my...." He mouthed, before taking the Ring into his hands.

"I'm fine, Ryou." I fingered the marks over my neck collar bone. It stung painfully.

o

_God, that encounter was scary. The red marks are gone but it feels as if the Millennium Ring is still around my neck. It was so sore I had to stop myself from leaking out tears. Mum asked me what happened when I came home; she noticed the marks from my low cut t-shirt but I didn't reply. _

_It was worse when I went to meet Tea at the Starbuck's café._

"_What are those marks around your neck, Charybdis??" She asked, sipping at her coffee._

_I stared hard into my Cappuccino. "Promise you won't tell anyone else, Tea??"_

_She nodded. "Okay.... What is it?" _

"_Well.... After you guys had all left my house yesterday, I noticed that Ryou left his Millennium Ring, so I went to give it back to him. I couldn't get it off when I arrived at his house. Bakura spoke to me through my mind. He said that he wanted me to be the owner of the Ring, and I had to rip my skin off to get the ring off me. It was horrible." I said worriedly. _

_Tea looked at me with something I couldn't quite tell whether if it was sheer terror or worried ness like me. _

"_Are you thinking of exorcising Bakura then??" She asked._

_I bit my lip. "I'm not sure Tea."_

o

After that serious conversation with her at the café, we headed downtown and entered shops where we tried on many different clothes galore. Unfortunately I wasn't in the mood anymore, and Tea was trying and parading the clothes instead of me. She had a look around and ransacked a couple of shelves before shaking her head.

"So.... Are you thinking of dressing up for Halloween?" She asked once we exited the shop.

I turned round to face Tea as we walked around to the park marvelling at plants and trees. I shrugged.

"The school's holding a party right? Well – I guess I have to then. Are you going?" I asked.

She nodded. "Everyone's going, but I don't think Tristan, Duke and Ryou will dress up though. What are you going to be?"

"I wanna be.... The Dark Magician Girl!" I chirped cheerfully, thinking how nice the outfit looked. I knew there was a shop in town selling costumes. Tea smiled.

"I would like to be Dark magician Girl too."

Then it struck to us like lightning. We glared at each other (friendly glare by the way!) and then we ran to the shop which I could see was only a few blocks away – well I lost because I had a broken leg. When I arrived Tea was already at the counter asking about the costume. I gritted my teeth. I wanted to be the Dark Magician Girl! I hopped over to the counter as Tea vanished into the Changing rooms and asked the man if he had another costume.

He explained to me that the only costume left was the one Tea grabbed. I sighed in defeat. Oh well, Tea would look much better than me anyway. I limped over to the dressing area, found Tea already wearing the suit and sighed again.

"You take the costume, Tea. I wanna be a ghost." I muttered.

She looked at me. "No, you can take it, Charybdis. I can be something else, If you like it so much."

I shook my head. "No thanks."

"Are you sure, I'll be fine, really." Tea added.

"No, just take the costume, you really like it much more than me." I replied.

This pointless argument about fighting over a costume was making me get irritated. At the end, Tea bought the costume and I got a large white bed sheet from 'The Sleepy Z Shop'. We spent the whole morning in the town square, and bought loads of clothes. By the time we headed to the bus station it was almost 5pm. Our hands were aching with the large amount of our bags and we were starving – we'd spent all our money on clothes and accessories. Fortunately we bought 'All day Tickets' for the bus ride before.

I waved goodbye to her as soon as we came to our stop and had got out the bus.

The sun was now set, it was getting darker. The lamppost's lights were on, and lights flickered in people's homes. I found myself limping slower over to my front door, my hands getting numb. Mum opened the door as soon as I had limped up.

"You should've told dad to pick you up." She gathered the bags from my hands. "Geez, your bags are heavy!"

She pulled me in and forced me to rest on the couch, with my casted leg on a foot stool. Callista was inside her room studying for a Business test tomorrow. Dad was reading the newspaper as I had got home, and was now pestering me with one of his lame – o jokes and saying how 'groovy' his day was.

I limped away from him as he went back to the table to read about sports and hopped up the stairs into my room.

Grabbing my diary from my locked drawer and taking out my pen, I sat on my desk recounting all the stuff that's happened to me lately.

_Meeting Bakura. I.e Evil Spirit that dwells inside Ryou's Millennium Ring_

_Getting attacked by Bakura – the Ring wouldn't get off my neck and my skin had to be ripped._

_Finding out Grandma's books and cards etc_

_First kiss taken by evil spirit – still angry at him for that!_

_Finding out if Ring has magical teleportation powers??_

Okay, okay, why is everything always about the stupid Millennium Ring and that wretched evil thing, Bakura?? Maybe I should exorcise him?? He'd be happier at the afterlife anyway, and I'd be doing everyone else a favour if I got rid of him.....

I groaned and screamed in agony. This whole process was giving me a bad headache. I had learnt how to exorcise before anyway – I've never tried it. I've seen Grandma perform it for possessed people. All I needed was some rice, talismans and incense sticks and other stuff I had in the house.

But, what if I don't succeed?? What if I make Bakura angry if nothing happens?? What if he possesses me instead? He already said he liked me, and liked being around my neck........

I am officially starting to lose it completely. My head is way gone away from reality and into a weird world where flowers would sing nursery rhymes, pretzel people would dance around you and my beanies could talk to me.

Would I take the risk??

o

I trailed up to the doctors' room. I'm going to get my cast off today. She sat me down on the bed, and slowly unwrapped my bandages and the rock hard thing where my leg was all pale from the reduced exposure to the sunlight a few days ago. It felt weird moving it, it felt sore when I accidentally cracked the bone to move it. But soon, I could move it around and back.

"You've made a fast recovery, Charybdis, you won't be needing the cast anymore and can skate to school." She said.

Awww, I was beginning to enjoy missing P.E now too.

o

Oh well, at least no one will know it's me wearing this sheet. It was too large for me and I had measured the slits wrong so I had to clip it on my clothes to stop it from moving away from my eye level. The left eye was too high and the right was cut too low so I had to cock my head to the side. Underneath I put a short black skirt on and belt, a matching sleeveless black top that showed my curves – it was meant to be looser but it got put into the tumble dryer and shrunk a little. I draped the sheet over me, seeing that I looked more like a 3 – dimensional isosceles triangle. This wasn't how I was supposed to look it!

I groaned and waved my arms under the sheets to see what I looked like on the mirror. It didn't look too shabby if I waved my arms. Okay, note that during the party I need to wave my arms a lot so I don't look like 3D isosceles triangle.

"Bye, mum, bye dad. I'm off to the party." I waved to them - practise makes perfect and left the house before skipping along the path to school. It was 7pm, I saw little kids with their parents going round doors dressed up in all sorts of costumes and I felt stupid. I pulled the sheet higher above my shoes since I noticed that I was stepping on the pavement as well and started to run to the school gates where I saw lights flashing from the hall windows and muffled music from outside.

Running inside I spotted a certain short boy with funny hair standing outside talking to a tall blonde. The short boy was wearing a purple costume and carrying a small stick (the Dark Magician) and the blonde was wearing this uh.... Red costume (Flame Swordsman) and carrying a sword. Then, I saw my other friends come over. Duke, Ryou and Tristan weren't wearing any costumes but wearing casual wear. Tea bobbed up to them, wearing the Dark Magician costume and I felt that it would definitely look better on me, me, me!!

The ghost costume wasn't that bad. Deciding to talk to them later, I looked at the buffet table with all sorts of bowls with candies and stuff and licked my lips. Free food! I took out my small bag and ran over to the table, and rammed in a couple of eyeball rock candies, chocolate spiders and UFO sherbet pops. I tied the bag once full and went back to the visitor's hall to sing in first, but then I spotted the DJ at the stage and waddled over to him.

"Hey there, Ghoulie. Hope this party's a' crashing for ya." He said coolly, waving his free fingers as he rubbed the funny disc thingy to the beat of the current song.

"It's great thank you. Do you do requests?" I asked, waving my arms to make me look more realistic as a ghost.

"Course Ghoulie. You just name the song - and I'll play it along." He replied grinning.

"Okay then. I'm dedicating this song to my friend." I began to tell the man all my friend's name.

o

"Hey guys!" I said, running over to them. They were all huddled up at the corner and looked over at the white and 3D isosceles triangle whizzing towards them.

"Gurlie??" Joey began laughing as he saw me and I glared at him from under the sheet. I was too busy running over to find out that I had stepped on the sheet and I slipped – everything began to turn into slow motion again.

The song playing was turning slower and distorted.

My friend's look of happiness was turning into worry as they saw me almost crashing over to them.

The lights flashed slower. Voices became more quiet and muffled.

Then everything went fast again and Yugi instinctively ran over to me and caught me before I landed face flat on the floor.

"Thanks, Yugi. You're always there when I fall." I said awkwardly.

"You said it, Charybdis. You'd better not step on your 'costume' again." Duke joked.

"What are you meant to be?" Tristan asked.

I knocked on his head. "Hello?? I'm a ghost." I waved my arms up and down again to convince them and they laughed. Yugi helped me over as I talked. "I know I'm not convincing but I don't know what else to be."

The DJ put his microphone on and a loud feedback was heard. "Now, a song requested by – A. Gule who wants me to play 'Friend' (A/N It's a Japanese song in Prety Guardian Sailor Moon, I like it a lot! I don't own the song!). Of course this song isn't just dedicated to her best fried, it's dedicated to all her friends, Yugi, Tea, Joey, Ryou, Duke and Tristan!"

The song began, and Joey and Tristan scratched their heads. "Who's so nice to dedicate a song for all of us?"

I giggled and they all looked at me. "Charybdis??"

I nodded. "It was me silly. A. Gule? Look at what I'm dressed up as!"

"You didn't have to, but that was very nice!" Tea cried happily.

"Come here Gurlie." Joey said, and he pulled me by his side and gave me a nougie (he drove his fist into my head), and the rest all done the same. By the time I came out alive from being bombarded with nougies, my head sort of hurt.

_Dear my friend  
I kept running here  
With my dream  
I kept searching for here  
With no time to look back every day  
Our meeting isn't by chance  
Tell me the reason for those tears  
The first lie you told  
Erased by the melody of the falling rain  
The merry-go-round keeps turning  
The fleeting sepia feelings  
Sealed up in a photo album  
Come back to me  
The miracle of our meeting and  
(miracle power)  
That irreplaceable time  
(special time forever)  
I treasure them all  
I can go on with life  
Thousands of emotions  
(thousand words)  
Vanish into the night sky  
(twinkle star forever)  
I want to complete the things  
We can only do now  
I wanna be with you.  
My best friend_

_  
For myself  
We only get one life  
Go my way  
I want to have adventures, too  
Doing it over again  
With meetings and partings  
The nights of solitude end  
Inside the gentle winds  
Your smiling face is always the same  
Radiant  
Even if we start to walk down  
(winding road)  
Separate roads  
(special time forever)  
Somewhere deep inside  
We're connected  
The magic words  
(miracle words)  
Race across the night sky  
(twinkle star forever)  
I want to send a fantasy  
Shining from the stars  
I wanna get back here.  
My best friend_

_  
I was smiling, shy of  
This thing called friendship  
Thanks for giving me  
A wonderful dream_

_  
The miracle of our meeting and  
(miracle power)  
That irreplaceable time  
(special time forever)  
I treasure them all  
I can go on with life  
Thousands of emotions  
(thousand words)  
Vanish into the night sky  
(twinkle star forever)  
I want to complete the things  
We can only do now  
I wanna be with you.  
My best friend  
(I'm proud of you)  
Together forever  
(feel my heart)  
(please, please, please)  
(my best friend)_


	8. Crushed

**Chapter 8 Crushed**

The Halloween party ended at 9pm and everyone returned home. Yugi and I walked down the still-not-empty streets down to his house. The air felt rather warm today, so I took off my 'costume'.

It was much harder to take off than it should. My fingers got stuck in the eyeholes and all I could get of was a never-ending ton of white satiny smooth fabric. The fabric was of course, much too long so I had to pull it off me for about 5 minues. My hair went static and sort of crackled when I finally pulled it off. I cringed.

"Geez, this costume wasn't that bad today. Did I look scary??" I asked him.

Yugi had taken off his Dark Magician costume and was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt. He smiled nervously at me. "Well uh.... You manage to scare a few kindergartners along the way."

"Oh yeah...." I said thoughtfully, remembering when I leapt in front of several 5 year olds in the street and screaming 'BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA BOO!!' and waving my arms quickly making them scream with terror and I was screaming with delight. Okay it was pretty nasty but then I leapt over to a house and said 'Trick or Treat' to the owner and he eyed me funnily seeing a ghost about 5'5 or something – almost his height, clutching a bag. The owner placed some lollypops inside and I gave them to those kindergarteners who had kindly 'volunteered' to get scared.

I grinned. "Ya think?"

Yugi looked at my clothes. "You could've worn that to the party too."

"Nah. I couldn't be stuffed. I'm only wearing this underneath because I've got nothing else to wear." I paused.

He stared at me. "What's wrong?"

"Bingo." I said, and I put on my ghost costume again and pointed to a shop/house a few blocks away, which had electric flashing skeletons and other posh decorations. I jogged over to the shop/house and entered in. The owner was an old man.

"Trick or Treat, Mr Moto!" I said happily and he laughed.

"Ah, wait here Charybdis. I got goodies here somewhere for you. Hold on." He disappeared back inside the shop and re emerged from the door with a load of chocolate Freddos, a few packs of gum and Fireballs. "Here you go."

I was amazed he knew I was under the sheet and saw the whole load of sweets tip into my bag when he emptied them in; I smiled, before saying my thanks. Yugi came in once I almost reached the door.

"So that's why you left me outside, to get more candy." He said. "At my house."

I grinned. "Do you want some gum?" I asked, popping one in and chewing before blowing a bubble.

He shook his head. "No thanks, Grandpa's got enough sweets here." He replied.

"Yugi, Charybdis, did you enjoy the party?" Mr Moto asked.

We both nodded. .:POP:. The bubble burst and sprayed over my lips. I licked them clean from the dried gum (have you noticed that when the bubble pops over your lips it gets dry and you have to pull it off? That always happens to me).

"I'd better be going now. Thanks for the sweets Mr Moto." I said.

"You're welcome Charybdis, and you can call me 'Grandpa', it makes me feel better." The old man chuckled as I pushed open the door.

"Uh... okay.... Mr Grandpa Moto." I said cheerfully.

o

"Glad to see you back without your crutches and the cast, Charybdis." Yugi said, as I skated beside him up to school.

"Yeah.... It sort of feels a lot lighter – and empty without the cast over my leg. I didn't have my cast during the party, it's fully healed now, I think." I replied, showing him how I could easily bend and twirl around, before almost crashing down. Luckily Yugi caught me, and was struggling to keep me back up.

"Sorry about that, Yugi." I giggled. "I guess I need to work on my balance."

"So..... Are you still thinking of the exorcism?" He asked.

"I'm not sure, still. Do you think I should?" I asked.

"Well, you could just take Ryou's ring and throw it in the dumps instead."

"I'm not sure."

Yeah...... I could do that........ Bakura wasn't much of harm anyway........ maybe I should spare him??

"Oh yeah, the Talent Show is today."

"What????" I cried out, almost making Yugi leapt up with shock from my sudden outburst. "I – I - I didn't get any tickets."

"Don't worry. I got you one." Yugi said, holding a ticket up in his hand.

"Really??"

"Uh huh." He nodded, smiling.

"Yugi!" I said, enveloping him into a tight hug.

He choked, his face growing red like a tomato – probably because I was squeezing out his life. I let go quickly and he returned to his normal face colour, and dug into my purse from my bag.

"I'll pay you back." I said. "How much did it cost?"

"Only 50 pence, but you don't have to, really." Yugi said. (it's UK currency)

"No silly, of course I have to pay you back!" I shoved a 50p into his palm and smiled. "Thanks, Yugi. I owe you one."

He blushed furiously. "Anything for a friend..."

"Aww, how cute." I thought.

o

"Psst.... Joey..... Tristan.... Where are you?? Yugi?? Ryou??" I whispered into the darkness, the whole theatre was pitch black because I had stumbled in late, and all the curtains were drawn for the next act. I crawled down the stairs, looking around for them, before two strong hands grabbed me under the arms and yanked me gently into a seat.

"Thanks, Duke." I whispered to him. "I was getting lost."

"Shh, the next act is coming up." He said.

"Gurlie, you're late." Joey hissed over to me. "Where were ya? I've been lookin' everywhere. You missed the introduction."

"Sorry, I was late." I noticed that Duke was sitting beside Joey and Yugi. Tristan and Ryou must be somewhere else. "Where's Ryou and Tristan?" I asked anyway.

"They're backstage."

"Oh."

I seated myself between Joey and Yugi, placing my bag down, and watched as the curtains rose back up, and the principal entered from the left side of the theatre holding the microphone in his hand which made a horribly loud screeching feedback noise as soon as he spoke into it.

"Now, for the next act, Tea Gardner, with Dance of the Midnight Moon!"

Everyone clapped, and Yugi, Joey, Duke and I whooped as she came on wearing her costume – which was a black top, with a matching black skirt and dance shoes. Her hair still the same, but she had dark cosmetics on. Her mascara brought out her eyes and the blusher gave her more colours to her cheeks. Tea looked absolutely stunning.

I glanced at Yugi, who looked – erm.... The same as always. He had a small smile curved on his lips, not his normal everyday smile that showed a bit of his teeth. I stared at him. What? That's it? No blushing face or fluttery eyes or woozy boo's?? Okay – maybe that was the first indications of having a crush on someone, but I didn't really see any of that on his features.

He caught me looking at him, and stared at me back, before I gave up and looked away, my face starting to feel warm and my heartbeat starting to double its pumping speed. I felt uneasy just sitting beside him, and I began squirming in my seat. I had the urge to go to the toilets. I glanced at the 'fire exit' sign hungrily which illuminated in the dark theatre.

Tea stood in the middle, watching us carefully. I waved to her reassuringly and she smiled. The music began, and she soon began to dance to the rhythm, twirling elegantly, swaying mesmerizing to the beat and moving graciously.

The whole theatre was quiet when she had finished, then they clapped, and I clapped like mad, so hard that my hands hurt. We all cheered as she left the stage and the principal appeared once more, explaining the next act by a group of girls dancing to Eric Prydez' 'Call On Me'. Unfortunately I began to feel drowsy, and Yugi saw me yawn, and blink my eyes trying to get myself back up.

"Charybdis – "He said, looking over at me.

"Huh?? I –I... I'm okie dokie.......really" I said drowsily and quickly.

"Would you like to go out for some fresh air?" He asked worriedly.

"Uh.... Huh........" I said, getting up my seat, almost tripping over Duke's leg, and I really did this time. I apologised and side stepped out the theatre. Yugi followed me out, and I sat myself down outside on the porch, drawing deep breaths and exhaling. He sat beside me and watched as I rubbed my temples with my eyes closed.

"So.... What did you think of Tea's dance huh??" I asked him dazedly, still with my eyes closed. I groaned a little when the world began to spin around.

"It was.... Original.... She's a very talented girl." Yugi replied.

I don't know why I was playing matchmaker. I just wanted my friends to be happy. I giggled, before opening my eyes. I covered my mouth and glanced at him again. "Do you like her??" I squeaked meekly.

".... Why are you asking me that question??" He asked me curiously, now staring at me hard.

GOD, stop looking at me with those piercing eyes, Yugi!! I hiccupped. I gulped. I sniffed. I croaked. I shrugged and looked down at the floor, my face burning. "Um.... Because uh... Tea's my friend, and I want to help her...." I squeaked meekly. Yeah, I know she was my friend – but di she want me to go ask Yugi how he felt towards her?? Oh no, I've blabbed out her secret then!! (sobs)

He moved closer to me a little and I shrank back down. "W-W-What???" I asked nervously, noticing my voice fading into silence pathetically. I wheezed. He was sooooo close; I felt his breath on my face. I squeezed my eyes shut, not feeling drowsy anymore. Yugi wasn't acting as normal as he should.

"I like Tea, as a friend." He said quietly, before returning back to his seat.

I sat back up. "You do??? As a friend??? Then.... Oh." I felt stupid. He probably thinks I'm a nosy git now. I've totally humiliated myself in front of my friend. I don't even know how I'm going to live it up to him now.

We both sat in silence, watching the clear blue sky above. I yawned, and sighed, then made a slight squeak. "Wanna go to the pitch? You get a good view of the sky there." I suggested.

o

We both lay back on our backs on the soft grass beside the empty pitch, where the sky above us was the most clearest and brightest. A few birds were singing in the trees, clouds danced and the smell of fresh air reached our nostrils.

"It's nice here, ain't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it's soothing here....." He murmured lazily.

I smiled. "I come here sometimes with Tea and Joey when I'm down. You can share this place with us too."

We both seemed to be lying on our backs for quite some time, because I almost fell asleep again, and found myself snuggled against Yugi.

God, he was so warm, soft; had this – ooh.... amazingly plushy and squishy body....I dug my head into his side more, feeling comfortable, before noticing what I was doing.... ACK!! I reluctantly moved away from him slowly and returned back on the grass where I stared wide eyed at the sky, noticing that he had been awake for the whole time and was watching me intently as I squirmed away from him. I blushed furiously. OHMIGOD. How much of my actions did he see????????? He grinned a little.

"Time flies here, doesn't it?" He asked.

I nodded meekly, then remembering what time it was. "Uh... we should probably get back now. The others should be looking for us." I mumbled, before getting up and trotting towards the Theatre. Yugi got up, with his elbows propping up to support him as he stood up and brushed his shirt.

I brushed my skirt and my back, took out bits of grass and leaves out of my hair and followed him back in. I noticed that his back still had tons of grass on, but he didn't seem to notice until I picked some off him. He turned his eyes to me, not his head and I shrank back once again.

"S-Sorry, your back's full of grass and err.....stuff." I squeaked weakly, smiling at him nervously. "Y-You don't mind, do you??"

He shook his head.

He didn't mind??!! I felt myself practically grovelling and melting at his feet. "Um... o-okay..." I stuttered; my hand was trembling as I reached up again and picked one teensy weeny bit of grass from his shirt. I sobbed. God tell me if this is reality or not??

We were now sitting back on the grass watching the sky again – after notcing that there was still some time left. I was busy making daisy chains and picking dandelions from their roots while Yugi stayed with his back on the grass again, his hands behind his head. I was aware that he was watching my every move when I picked a flower up.

I sobbed again and bit my lip. God, why couldn't I just act normal in front of him nowadays?

o

"You fancy him." Callista said.

I totally did not want to seek her for advice on my love life, but since she's got a boyfriend, why not?

"I-I-I d-d-do????" I gasped, dropping the plate I was scrubbing back inside the container of bubbly water. I picked it up again when it splashed water all over me.

She nodded, not looking at me from her book. She was busy revising at the dining table – did I tell you that our kitchen and dining room is joined?

"B-B-But I can't. I can't like him." I replied hastily.

"Why not?"

"Uh...err.... Because... I just can't." I pictured how furious Tea would be if she found out. I pictured her bashing me on the head with a clenched fist, every student crowding round us to see what the fuss was about and I also pictured her ignoring me at school. Then I thought of people whispering at Yugi and I when we were just talking or even going to class.

She sighed. "Then forget about him. Who is the guy you're talking about? That Joey with the weird accent, or that tall good looking one named Tristan??"

I shook my head. I hadn't mentioned to her that I 'fancied' Yugi. "W-What's love??" I swallowed. Sigh, the word that normally confuses every average teenager's life.

"The thing you told me about. You said you'd feel warm, safe and happy being with him." She replied. "I feel that way when I'm with Tinky Poo."

"Who's Tinky Poo?" I asked, placing a rinsed fork in the drawer of cutlery and other utensils.

"You know, Mike." Callista said, smiling a little.

"Who?" Apparently I still hadn't a Scooby (not the dog!) about who she was talking about.

She sighed. "Mike a.k.a – my boyfriend?"

"Oh......... Why'd you call him Tinky Poo?"

"It's a couple thing; you'd understand when you get a boyfriend. Though, right now, you're sort of at one step of growing up and getting your own boyfriend, I have to admit."

"I'm 16! Why does everyone doubt my age?" I cried out sadly.

"Maybe it's because you don't act your age. Listen, Charybdis. I don't doubt you at all, I wasn't really like you when I was your age – you know, boy crazy, but you do still represent me when I was younger – you know, always um... dazed all the time and careless."

I took off my apron after cleaning the sink, and joined her at the dining table. "I'm not that boy crazy, am I??"

"Probably." She smiled.

o

_That wasn't the first time I've had an actual sister – to – sister talk with Callista. We were once thrown back in time when Callista and I were almost best friends too. We'd share secrets, talk about things and play the most stupid games ever, until Callista had to go to High School was when everything changed. _

_She didn't walk with me back home from Primary School; I didn't see her for about 45 minutes because High School finished at 3:45pm, while primary school finished at 3pm. We didn't talk or play with each a lot too afterwards. Callista had too much homework, had exams to sit and had to study so she stopped being fun. Then when I moved to High School, we went our separate ways again. It was 'uncool' to hang around with little siblings for her. She had other friends, and barely said anything to me when we walked past each other. _

_Then it changed again when Callista moved to University. She'd leave way before I wake up and come back at 5pm or something, then lock herself in her room either studying, talking to her boyfriend or other friends etc. _

o

The next day at school, I was attacked by '_him_' (narrows my eyes and hisses the word each time I say that), again.

"Girl, you are thinking of trying to get rid of me, aren't you?" Bakura said, as he cornered me inside the girl's bathroom.

"Bakura, you're not meant to be here." I said, looking back at him.

A girl came in, before running back out as she saw Bakura pinning me against the wall beside the sinks. His strong hands were on my wrists and he had pushed my arms to the side of my head. I struggled feebly under his strong grip. God, I wished the girl would come back in and pull Bakura off me.

"Like as if I really care." He snarled at me.

"Just leave me alone, you creep." I said, trying to sound fierce once again. I glanced down at the Millennium Ring......

_I've got to get rid of it now...... It might help..._

"I think not, girl." He added, and I saw his hand escaping from my right wrist, and suddenly cup around my neck. I choked. Oh my god..... He's strangling me. I choked a little again, and then he released his hand over my neck, chuckling as he did so.

"W-What do you want?" I asked gently, hoping not to anger him.

He ignored me; he was too busy and focusing on with his own matters right now, which was um.... Strangling me?

"Geryer hans off me yow jerk!! (Translation - Get your hands off me you jerk)" I pushed him away, reached for his Millennium Ring, but he caught my outstretched hand and gripped it tightly.

"Don't even think about trying to get the Ring, girl. You can't get rid of me that easily." He replied, and then he released my arm again, a faint glow slowly surrounded me and I was forced back against the wall painfully. His ring was glowing furiously and I couldn't summon enough strength to move at all - let alone breathe!

"You don't stand a chance against me."

o

"_I can't believe you let that guy threaten you." Callista said as soon as I had told her what Bakura did to me in the bathrooms. _

"_Like as if I really had a choice." I mumbled. Luckily the cleaner came in and shooed bakura out before he attacked me again. This is getting way too dangerous for me to handle. _

_She sat beside me on the couch as I flicked through the channels on Sky. _

"_This guy must really like you; I think he's obsessed with you." She replied. I hadn't told her who it was either – I don't want to mention any names. _

"_Obsessed??" I didn't like the word. _

"_Yeah, I mean, he did kiss you, didn't he?" Her smile widened a little. _

_I began feeling embarrassed and stupid. "N-No he didn't. He just said he liked me. That doesn't mean he's obsessed." _

"_It's still the same thing.... So, how are you going to get rid of him? You said you don't like him."_

"_I'm not sure... you see.... If you'd believe..... That he isn't human??" I said, grinning nervously._

_She snorted with laughter. "If he wasn't human, then what is he?"_

"_He's an evil spirit of a tomb robber who died about 5000 years ago, I think, who lives inside a piece of an artefact – or an accessory." I mumbled, thinking about the Millennium Ring. _

_Callista didn't hear what I'd said. _

_Obsessed. ........ He must really like me........ he did kiss me...._

_I banged my head off the wall a couple of times to get my thoughts straight. _

o

"Gurlie, are you okay?" Joey's boisterous voice lingered through my ears, and came out into my brain. I snapped out from my thoughts, and stared at him as he hovered above my desk.

"Hunh??" I asked lazily, staring at the heart I had vandalised on my desk by accident.

"I sed – are ya okay, Gurlie?" Joey said again, his words slower than usual.

"I'm sorry, what??" I asked, now drawing the word Yugi and Bakura in the heart.

"What's up with Gurlie?" Joey asked Tristan, who was standing beside him.

"Gurlie isn't feeling too well, Monkey Boy, so could you leave her alone for one moment?" I replied absentmindedly, now writing my initial in the middle between the words Yugi and Bakura.

Joey shrugged, and went over to Duke while Tristan went over to Tea. It was the bright early morning of a Thursday, three days after the Talent Show. Tea noticed that Yugi and I weren't there when she had won second prize, and I said I went out for fresh air. Yugi said he went out with me for fresh air too. Everyone got suspicious of us then.

"Are you okay, Charybdis?" Yugi's voice lingered through my ears, and I looked at him. "You're a little quiet today."

"I'm fine." I replied, covering up the finished faint heart, which was now scraped off messily. I paused. "Are you saying that I'm quite loud most of the time?"

"No, not really. You're energetic, caring and cheerful. I sometimes wonder how you could be so happy all the time." He replied.

"Well... uh." I was lost for words. "You really think so?"

He nodded. "By the way. Tea and I are going to the library this lunchtime, want to come with us?"

I nodded. "I'll meet you there at half one."

o

I spotted Yugi standing outside at the entrance. He didn't look at me, staring at the corner and I walked over, I still had my lollipop in my mouth.

"Hi Yugi, hi Yugi." I said to him as I reached over, holding my hand up like a small wave. I paused, my face dropped. He stared at me like as if I was crazy.

Was it just me..... Or did I see two Yugi's standing there???????????????? O.O; -- My expression.

"FLOPPING FLOTSAM!!!!" I screamed, and Yugi clamped his hand over my mouth, watching not to choke me with the lollipop with the stuck that protruded from my mouth.

"Charybdis, what's wrong with you??" Yugi asked worriedly.

I pointed to the Yugi on Yugi's right. Yugi (who had his hand clamped over my mouth) looked over to his right.

"There's two of you....." I mumbled. My words muffled.

"Y-You can see him??"

Yugi No.1 with his hand over my mouth let go and I stared hard. Yugi No.2, who I had noticed was sort of transparent.

I nodded slowly again. "B-But h-how??" I asked, taking my lolly out.

"I suppose she has a sense of seeing spirits." Yugi No.2 said to Yugi No.1

"Spirits?? W-what do you - ?? How?? What?? When??" I was choking out words that didn't mean anything and Yugi No.1 had pulled me into an empty classroom.

"Charybdis, I'd like you to meet Yami." He said.

"Eh??????" I said, puzzled. "I'm sorry, but nothing is getting into my head right now." Question marks were buzzing out from my head.

Yugi No.1 looked at the taller Yugi No.2, then back to me.

o

"So you're saying that – basically, Yami is the spirit of an Egyptian Pharaoh who got trapped inside your Millennium Puzzle and is now your best friend???" I said, still licking the lollipop. O.O "Does that mean that I have to call you 'My Pharaoh' from now on, Yami?" I asked.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Just stick with Yami. I'm used to it."

Yugi No.1 and Yugi No.2 nodded. It looked so eerie how they looked so similar – wait. I noticed that Yami was much taller and er.... Looked a little older. I noticed that he was only taller than me a few inches.

I scratched my head and cocked my head to the side. "If you two have the ability to swap, just like Ryou and Bakura but it was your own free will – then – "My face froze and I bit the hard candy hard, I heard me tooth crack painfully.

"What?" Yami asked questioningly.

Yugi looked as eager to know what I was going to say as Yami did. I shook my head vigorously and focused on them two again. "Okay, okay. I'm going to ask you some questions – both of you, and I want either of you to raise your hand when the question relates to either of you, got that?" I said, putting my hands to my head and ruffling my hair so it stuck out messily.

Both looked at each other, before nodding in unison. It was eerie, really eerie. I cringed. I hope they don't do that again....

"Okay – who was with Joey, Tea and I at the Bookshop? – Raise your hand." I asked.

Yugi raised his hand meekly.

"Who was with me at the early bird program in the library when my face got a pimple?"

Yami put his hand up. His face expression was a cross between the question – 'Why am I doing this?' and 'What is this to do with us?'

"O – kay...um.... Who was I sitting beside during interval when I asked Ryou about his arm –and about Bakura?"

Yugi put his hand up.

"Who was with Tea when I was supposedly 'attacked' by Bakura?"

Yami put his hand up.

"Who came to my home with Tea after I met Bakura?"

Yugi put his hand up.

"Who came to visit me when I was in hospital?"

Yugi and Yami both put their hands up. They both went to visit me then?

"Who was carrying my crutches and helped me to the vending machine?"

Yugi put his hand up. I think he was starting to get tired, so I decided to speed it up a little.

"Who was there when I almost got run down by a bike?" I ate the remaining bit of candy attached to the stick.

Yami put his hand up.

"Who was at my house when I held the meeting about exorcism?"

Yugi put his hand up.

"The one I hugged??!!" I asked desperately and hysterically, my teeth practically biting into the stick of the lollypop.

Yugi put his hand up shyly, his face growing red.

"Sitting beside me at the theatre and at the football pitch?????!!!!!" God – the biggest question to the answer when I felt 'love'. My voice was growing louder and louder with each question.

Yami put his hand up and the lollypop stick fell out of my mouth.

o

"Oh no! No! No! No!" I said angrily, shaking my head from side to side and stepping around the living room. "This wasn't supposed to happen!! Oh no, no, no, no, no!!!!"

"What's with you??" Callista said, looking at me strangely.

"What would you do when you felt love for another person you don't even know??" I groaned, not looking at her.

"What??? I didn't get that."

"I mean – I thought I liked the person who I asked you what love was, but then I found out, that I didn't like him, but another person!" I said hopelessly.

"Then that means you like the person who you didn't feel love before."

I screamed in aggression, before slumping down on the sofa. God, I'm in love with Yami. I'm officially in love with Yami. I don't like Yugi. The one I felt love for was Yami. The one I've fallen for is Yami. I just met him today, I just known his name. I just realised he's a spirit. Not only but a spirit, but a handsome, hot and manly spirit who was a Pharaoh. I'm in love with a spirit.

WAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

OOOOOOOOOHHH NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Wait – do spirits have hearts?? O.O?


	9. The Double Date

**Chapter 9 The Double Date**

I've been on the lookout ever since I've found out about Yugi. He made me swear to the heavens that I mustn't tell them my secret. I can tell the difference between them already too, and I always ran away from Yami. If he was there at school which was quite rare – I'd run behind Duke or Joey. I couldn't stop myself feeling nervous and stupid when I'm beside him or even talking to him. Coming to think of it, I'm also starting to avoid Ryou too. The rest doesn't have a clue when Bakura will pop up again. They don't know what to do.

It's hard to anyway, because I've always thought Yami was Yugi, so right now it's as though a totally new person has entered my life. I can't speak to him properly before suffocating or running to the girl's toilet.

GOD HELP ME IN THIS SITUATION!!!!!!!! GOD BESTOW SOME PITY ON ME NOW!!!! I AM INNOCENT I TELL YOU, INNOCENT!!

I lay back on my bed staring at my ceiling. It's the weekend thankfully. I haven't written any entries in the diary yet, which is only a quarter full. I've totally ignored the diary now actually, and I'm only concentrating on writing in an old notebook. I've not dated it, because that means it is a diary, and I can't be bothered to anyway. I've written about 6 – 10 pages of stuff about Yami; his posture, way of talking, how he sleeps, how he eats, moves and thinks, and only about 3 pages of stuff about Yugi and the rest. God! I'm beginning to become obsessed over him!!

I wondered how Yugi could cope sharing a body with a spirit. I wonder how his friends could cope without knowing that they were hanging around with two people in one body. I wondered how Yami would get his own body back.

TO HELL WITH YAMI!!!

I drove my hands on my head and ruffled up my hair that it went all over the place like a bird's nest. Why do I keep thinking about him???

o

My brain was always switching from other thoughts to Yami. Yami. Yami. Yami. Yami. Yami. Yami. Yami. That was all I could say and think about.

"Why aren't you eating, Charybdis?" Mum asked me.

I looked at my plate and attacked a sausage with my knife. "Yami...." I mumbled quietly. Thankfully no one heard.

"She's lovesick. Poor girl." Callista replied, looking at me worriedly while eating her rice.

"WHAT??" Mum and dad's eyes popped out – you should've seen it. It was freaky – dead freaky. I've never seen mum and dad so shocked before in their lives, yikes! I gotta run for cover! (I almost flew over behind the couch but Callista grabbed me back on my bum on the seat)

"I'm not!" I retorted back, biting into the sausage ravenously making a loud tear from the skin. Honestly, why did Callista always had to tell everything about me to mum and dad?

"Who's the lucky dud?" Dad asked, grinning at me. Apparently, dad was trying to act 'cool' again – if people understood what a 'dud' was.

"Yami's not a dud!" I shouted fiercely; a vein popping in my head, before shutting up and shrinking back on my seat. I gotta learn not to speak before I think. Oh God, now everyone in the world must know if I continue like this! Bad Charybdis! Bad, bad Charybdis!!

"Who's Yami?" Mum asked curiously, frowning slightly with her brows low over her eyes.

"........." I was speechless with terror – no, nervousness.

"Her boyfriend – or the guy who she likes." Callista said, looking back at mum.

"Since when did you get another boyfriend? I thought that tall, young blonde man named Joey was your boyfriend." Mum replied.

"Joey's not my boyfriend! Yami's not my boyfriend either!" I said helplessly. I felt my cheeks burn up into flames. I'd just wished time would rewind and I could stop myself before I shout.

_Though I wish Yami was......._

I mentally slapped myself hard to wake me up. GET A GRIP ON YOURSELF CHARYBDIS!!!

"Now, Charybdis, meaning the terms boyfriend; you got to focus on your grades and schoolwork, so no boyfriends right now." Dad tutted at me.

"Yes dad." I mumbled.

o

"Since when did you get a girlfriend??" I asked suspiciously at Joey, who had now turned into a deep shade of red in the face as I asked him. Somehow this line sounded vaguely familiar....

We were both going to the shops by the park for some lunch today, and suddenly Joey had to bring up a subject of boyfriends and girlfriends. He was babbling non-stop about couples, kissing and other stuff that I found wasn't like Joey. In fact, I wanted to storm over to him and make him face and me and ask 'Who are you, where did you kidnap Monkey Boy?'. I found my face growing red as I thought about Yami again when he spoke about Yugi. And Joey was ranting on and on about some mystery girl who had 'cherry lips, smooth skin and perfect eyes'.

"Since... uh.... Ages ago. The Battle City Finals, I assume. Her name is Mai." He had a dreamy look of content in his face as he replied back.

"Mai huh?? So... what about her?? Is she pretty? Hot? Cute?" I asked shaking the feeling off as my face returned back to its natural colour.

"All three, Gurlie, we're going to the Domino Amusement Park on Sunday. Wanna come?" He asked, as we sat down on an empty bench with hot-dogs in our hands.

"Uh.... I'd better not – since you two are dating, right?" I hesitated for a while.

"Yeah, but ya could still come."

"No, no really...." I stammered.

"C'mon, Tea's got dancing lessons, Tristan's busy, Duke's going to a Game exhibition and Ryou's family is coming over that day." Joey added.

I wished I had a family reunion that day too.

o

"Hey, do you want to go to the carnival this weekend?"

I looked up. Yugi stood in front of my desk. I pulled at my strands of hair by the side of my cheeks. "This weekend?" I asked nervously.

"Yeah, Joey wants you to meet his girlfriend and he invited me to come with him." He replied as he took a seat beside me.

"I-I'm not sure......." I wanted to say, but instead, guess what I did say??

"Sure."

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I mentally slapped myself and cursed at myself for accepting. I could've kept a stern face and said 'No' but then I, I **had **to be Miss Pitiful and say 'Yes' politely. No, I wasn't feeling sorry for Yugi, I felt scared. I was scared of going out with him – or Yami. I was scared of my feelings for Yami. I was afraid of seeing him; let alone talking to him. I want to just run away from the world of love and get on with my life with my friends and family. Besides, I spotted Yami floating around and I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to sound rude or anything in front of him. God, now I wanted to impress him!! These things are occurring to me irregularly!! I can't believe this. I can't believe this!! This is sooo unbelievable!!

The dreaded day arrived faster than usual. I was waiting by the ticket booth by myself, wearing my black vest top underneath an unzipped brown top and jeans, with a black suede belt. I was wearing boots and carrying a matching shoulder bag. It was about 12 noon; when the amusement park was packed and mobbed with people. Of all the times, why did Joey just have to pick this time??

I saw a black dot running towards me from the park gates, and the black dot appeared to be a particular short boy wearing a tight black leather shirt, a dark coloured jacket, matching trousers and a gold coloured, pyramid shaped box dangling over his chest on a chain connecting with a collar on his neck. He stopped in front of me, puffing and panting on the spot. "H-Hi Charybdis." He breathed.

"Hi Yugi." I said, rubbing his back so he could catch his breath. "Are you alright?"

He nodded slowly, and then, we were standing beside each other waiting for the rest. It was rather awkward waiting, watching people go past us – mostly couples who glanced at us. Other people watched us and I felt even more embarrassed. Finally the two came after about... God knows when, and I stormed angrily to Joey who had his arm around a pretty woman with long, blonde hair and pretty eyes (how can someone have pretty eyes? – anyways, just get with the program!). She was wearing a short purple skirt that showed her long, slim legs and a matching sleeveless blouse that fitted every curve of her perfect body.

"Hey you two. Been waiting long?" Joey asked us.

We both nodded, I decided to keep it cool.

"Charybdis, I'd like you to meet Mai."

"Nice to meet you Charybdis, Joey's told me a lot about you." She stuck out her hands, which had nail – polished fingers and smiled at me. I stared at her. God – she was so –so feminine compared with me, I felt inferior next to her – like an 8-year-old girl while she looked like a 23-year-old woman. I shook her hand clumsily and she smiled again.

"Nice to meet you." I choked.

o

Yugi and I trudged behind Joey and Mai into the Amusement Park after buying tickets. Watching them two lovebirds was making me feel quite nervous. I glanced at Yugi. "Is it just me, or am I getting the feeling that our presence isn't needed here at all?"

He nodded. "I agree too."

I almost jumped into the plastic model of Mickey Mouse. "God Yami, could you two at least warn me when you both swap?" I said angrily, glancing at Yugi who had appeared beside Yami in spirit form. He grinned nervously. "Sorry."

Oh great oh great oh great. Now Yugi's swapped with Yami, so I think this invitation is now turning into a double date. That's what I think... help me! I stared at the family with their children who were loading them onto their car. I watched them drive away from the amusement park. I placed an outstretched hand in front of me like as if there was invisible wall there, and muttered quietly: "Take me with you.... I wanna go home tae!"

"Hey guys, what ride would you like to go on first? The rollercoaster of Doom or the Soaring Eagle?" Mai asked us.

She pointed at the two rides. The Rollercoaster of Doom had tracks which led to the sky, and I saw what looked like people on the ride looked like tiny ants with tiny high pitched voices as they screamed. The Soaring Eagle was a ride that almost led to the sky. There was a ring around the whole thing, with seats, and then it would drop up and down.

I shook my head vigorously. "N-N-No... not that...." My eyed popped wide.

Mai looked blankly at me. "Come on, you can't be afraid of that?" She asked, grinning a little.

I nodded my head. "Honestly, I - I'm afraid of heights."

Yami looked at me worriedly. "Maybe we should pick a ride which doesn't involve with the sky?" I guessed he wondered why the track was also that high.

"How about the Jolly Rocker then?" Joey suggested, pointing to the large ship in the east.

I shrugged. "Um... okay." I hoped I didn't sound too much of a scaredy cat and an annoying person to Mai.

o

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

I was screaming and crying non-stop as the ride swung. Everyone else was whooping and screaming with joy – while I was screaming with terror. Joey and Mai were sitting in the front and enjoying the breeze and whooping, while I was stuck at the back with Yami screeching my lungs out. I could've died. I had my arms wrapped around his waist and I was digging my head into his chest. He didn't seem to mind, and kept a hand over my shoulder – I didn't even think of pulling away because I was terrified that very moment. He was enjoying how the ship swayed. I was feeling totally the opposite.

I had no idea that it swung quite fast. I thought I had noticed that it swung slowly earlier– or was it because it was about end so it reduced its normal speed and then I just happened to see it that time?? I cringed. I'm making a total buffoon of myself.

I hated the way it swayed – just like a real ship, duh. I felt dizzy, and when we got off the ride, Yami had to keep his arm over my shoulder to make me stand and walk properly. Yugi beside us was laughing because he was also on the ride, and Yami told him to go inside the puzzle, before looking worriedly at me again. He let go of my shoulder, and I sauntered away from the pavement and fell into a bush headfirst so my feet stuck out at an odd angle. Yami pulled me back out and I let him guide me over.

"Charybdis, you don't look too good. Maybe you should take a rest." Yugi said as he floated above us.

I nodded dazedly, and Yami helped me out onto an empty bench. Joey and Mai waddled over to us, still laughing and looked at us. They both whispered something, before grinning at us both.

"What's wrong with Gurlie?" Joey asked as he saw me with my eyes closed lying on the bench pathetically.

"I'm not feeling quite well." I moaned, holding my head which still spun around.

"Well, me and Joey want to go to the Log ride, Yugi, Charybdis, do you want to come?" Mai said.

I shook my head. "No thanks, I'll stay here."

"Just take a rest, Gurlie. You'd get back in reality soon." Joey added.

"I'll stay here with Charybdis." Yami said.

"What??" I was amazed but touched and sighing with bliss; I slapped myself again. "Listen, you don't have to. I'm fine. I just need a rest; I'll meet you at the Log Ride afterwards." I told him.

He shook his head. "You need to be taken care of."

I cringed. "I can take care of myself, really." I felt my heart beat faster than normal and that my lungs were going to burst soon.

Mai and Joey looked at each other. "Well, We'll be leaving you two here, we'll come back after."

o

I sat on the bench, with my head in my hands, staring blankly at the ground as a spider scuttled by. I didn't even feel like shrieking. Yami had gone to get some drinks. I felt like I needed to be alone for a while. I only lasted for about 5 minutes back there, how embarrassing!! I mentally slapped myself hard to get a grip. Charybdis isn't a weakling! I can still hold on! I clenched my fists. I can also put up with Yami too! I've also started to count the many times I had slapped myself today.

He came back holding a bottled mineral water. I muttered my thanks and gulped it down.

"Sorry, Yami." I said.

"For what, Charybdis?" He asked, looking at me.

"I'm making you miss out on all the fun." I replied.

He chuckled. "I'm not really familiar with these rides myself. Some of them look really daring."

"I'm scared of them. I'm scared I'll be sick." I said awkwardly.

"We could go to a slower ride if you want."

"The Ferris Wheel!" I suddenly shouted when I saw the wheel just a few rides away. We haven't been there yet – but it got scary when it got to the top. I got up, and dragged him over to the Ferris wheel – until I spotted a stand where you had to shoot the cans to win a dolly – beanie babies!

"I gotta win something!" I yelled, before running over, and placing in one token. The stall keeper gave me a gun, and I lifted it up to aim at the middle can, where all the cans were supported. I aimed, the 'cool' look returning back to me as I pulled the trigger and BLAM!

"Hey you! Watch where you're aiming at, little girl! Hit the can, not the pole!" The Stall Keeper shouted at me when I had shot the holder off which attached to the pole inside beside the cans supporting up bags of toys. They all fell down on a crumpled heap and I cringed.

o

Approximately 12 minutes 3 seconds later, I ventured away from the stall clutching about 5 beanie babies I had won – sighs, so much for the 'impressive shooting skills' part where I should've impressed Yami... I guess not. Everyone was staring at me as I waddled beside him.

"Here." I said, holding out my prized eagle beanie baby. "This is for you."

"Thank you." He muttered, taking the eagle out from my hands and placing it inside his pocket carefully. "Are we going to the Ferris Wheel now?"

I nodded happily and we actually had a proper conversation this time without any disturbances – except from the tinkly music this stand was playing. "Have you seen these rides before, Yami?" I asked, playing around with my seahorse beanie as we walked.

He shook his head. "They look a little dangerous, don't you think so?" He was eyeing the roller coaster that made people around upside down.

"I'm quite afraid that the bolts and nuts may pop out while the roller coaster moves around..." I replied. "Ya never know, you know." I got quite confused with that sentence. We passed several stands.

"Why didn't you and Yugi tell me before that you two were sharing a body ages ago?" I asked.

He looked at me thoughtfully and I gave him an innocent look back – well, I was supposed to look as thoughtful as he was.

"Good question, I suppose we weren't sure yet if we could trust you back then."

"Excuse me." I knocked on his skull several of times and he winced. "I've been your friend for a year now, and I just 'supposedly' met you yesterday. How do you think I feel?? If I've always known one person and suddenly another person with the same looks but different personality pops out in your life, how would you think I feel about that, hmm??"

"I'm sorry. We didn't concentrate on the term on how you would feel." Yami replied, still wincing.

"Does everyone else know?" I asked.

"Not yet. You're the only one who is aware of me and can see me in spirit form, you must hold some kind of power." He replied.

"Power?? I think you've mistaken, I've only got another sense."

"Another sense?" He seemed quite interested so I let my mouth working.

"My grandma, who is a medium/Priestess, says I go' meself another sense. To see spirits no one else could see." I said, even putting a mysterious tone to my voice – however it went kind of wrong and I ended up croaking. "I think she's talking a load of slapdash, seeing spirits eh? I think that's a load of wank."

"Interesting, but if you don't believe her, how can you see me?"

I decided to ignore him. I didn't really want to see him anyway – in spirit form. In fact, I wished I hadn't known that Yami and Yugi were sharing a body. I wheezed a little when the silence between us was getting awkward, not forgetting to mention annoying too.

"Come on then, I think I see Joey and Mai over there." He said smiling.

"Huh??" I didn't get a chance to look because Yami had grabbed my hand and was leading me through the thick crowds of people. We met Joey and Mai at the foot of the Wheel. They were about to go on, until they spotted us and walked over.

"The Ferris Wheel has some more cubicles left, hurry up and get on." Mai said and she dragged Joey into a spare cubicle and Yami and I went into one. I stared at the fairground below us slowly disappearing. The people were turning into ants and I cooed. Yami was looking at the sky thoughtfully.

"Ooooh..... Aaahhhhhh.... Eeehhhhhhh......woweeeee...." I said happily while I watched us go higher and higher and higher and higher - Until I was paralysed with fear, and the cubicle rocked a little and I screamed, before totally scrabbling backwards with my legs on the seat and clutching onto his arm like a child attached to its teddy bear and closed my eyes. I wondered how Yami felt this very moment.....

I opened one eye sneakily to see that he was chuckling a little. ""Don't worry, you're safe with me, Charybdis." He said gently.

I nodded, my lip trembling a little as I looked up at him. "Told you before I was afraid of heights, didn't I?" I didn't release my arm off him and even continued to hug him tighter until the ride finished – which was about 5.3 minutes and seconds later – and he even insisted on keeping an arm over me!

I guess he didn't realise I was doing this deliberately then, eh? I cackled to myself mentally – with complete thunder and lightning crashing in the background.

Sighs, it felt like heaven. It sure did.

o

"Oh no, no, no, no!!! We'll never get out of here!" I groaned, as Mai led me through this dark tunnel. "We've been walking for ages."

"Don't worry, we'll find the exit soon." Mai said as she walked towards this dim light in front of us about a foot away.

I wasn't sure where we were exactly, it was dark inside the tunnel, but we weren't alone. Other girls behind us were walking too, and giggling and whispering.

"Where are we anyway??" I asked as Mai stopped, and I stopped behind her. "You'll see Charybdis." She said.

We were apparently waiting in this queue of girls. I heard a faint murmur of voices from behind the wall at my side. I knocked on it, and the voices became louder. The line moved, and I turned to Mai.

"What is this ride?" I asked questioningly.

"Oh you know; that kind of love boat ride." Mai said happily.

"What?? B-But I..." I stared as the line moved up. "You mean that ride for couples??" My mouth opened.

She nodded. "Joey and Yugi are in here too."

"Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!" I moaned, trying to get out but Mai grabbed me back in. "Come on, I spent some of my tokens for us both for this ride." She said.

I sighed. "Alright Mai." The line moved up. I eyed it warily. It looked sappy as I spotted a pink boat with a couple in riding over the water into this heart shaped door with strands of pink beads illuminating in the soft red light from inside....

I gotta get out of here!

o

After desperate attempts to get away – including jumping in the water to swim back to the light indicating the exit and trying to run back, I surrendered as Mai got a little fed up when she hauled me back over. "Come on, it's not the end of the world, Charybdis." She said.

"Oh yes it is." I mumbled.

"Are you shy? Maybe around with Yugi???" She smiled.

I shook my head vigorously and gestured my hands into a 'no'.

"Come on, don't be shy. You can tell me anything. Us girls got to help one another in a situation." She smiled once I shook my head again, I think she's got it figured out already herself and was soon next in line, and what a surprise, really (hear the sarcasm) – Joey was next and they both clambered in and enveloped in the world of love and hugging love birds.

Of course – Yami and I were next and we weren't really in the world of love. More like the world of utter boredom.

"This is really awkward, ya know?" I moaned as we sat, waiting for the ride to finish. Apparently I guessed we've only been on the ride for only 1 minute, yet it felt it was for an hour.

He watched me twirl droplets out from my hair that was still wet. My fringe was plastered my side and curled a little around my face, my clothes stuck to my body water dripped down my cheeks and forehead and I sneezed, feeling cold. Yami instantly took off his jacket and draped it over me.

"I'm fine, honestly." I moaned, not looking at him, but I kept a firm hand over the coat.

"You're going to catch a cold if you don't wear anything over your clothes." He said.

"... Thanks." I snorted hastily.

Yugi was sitting beside us, watching the pink-coated walls and lovebirds and all sort of lovey - dovey stuff (that made me wanted to be sick) drawn on them.

"What's with you?" I asked him as he turned back.

Yugi glanced at us both, smiling a little. "I think I'll leave you two's alone." He said before disappearing back inside the Millennium Puzzle around Yami's neck. I could've died again. I groaned, and suddenly, I saw these two dots in front of us. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. Yami noticed this and also peered at where I was staring.

"What are we looking at?" he asked quietly.

"Shhh." I grabbed him and hid down low behind the front of the boat, and then we both got up slowly to eye level. Yami glanced over at me. I gaped with my jaw open, as I looked at the kissing couple with their arms around each other tightly in the boat only a few metres in front of us.

"Holy cow.... Look at Mai and Joey!" I whispered, starting to giggle.

Yami and I blushed furiously – so did Yugi who had floated beside Yami after popping back out when he saw us both. I gazed at Yami's slightly parted lips. I wonder what they felt like - the long, curved small smirk on his face, the kissable pout and the faint colour in them – I gulped nervously.

oooooooooooooooooo

Hi ppl! I've sed in the story that that no one knows that Yugi and Yami are sharing a body rite now, but I might change it so be aware!


	10. Flirting Is Fun

**Chapter 10**

**Flirting Is Fun**

"Why did Yami switch over at the Amusement Park?" I asked Yugi.

I was still thinking about the Amusement Park thing, which had just been an hour ago that I had totally forgotten where we were going. Home – it was 6pm already. We stayed at this restaurant for some lunch at 2pm after the Boat Ride with Joey and Mai, before getting a lift from Mai to Domino Square. Yugi and I got off; Joey was going with Mai to the mall to buy some other things.

I also managed to stop myself in time before I reached over to Yami in the boat back then – in fact; I tried but ended up rocking the boat so I remained in my seat. Sighs, I just blew a chance away. I handed my other two beanies to Joey and Mai and kept one for myself, a horrible ugly bunny with glowing red eyes of evil I won by accident.

Yugi shrugged but smiled. "He wanted to see for himself what amusement park was."

I heaved with my heavy bag of the beanie baby dolls I won. "Oh yeah, I gave a doll to Yami. Here you go, this is for you." I fished out a funny looking dragon beanie doll for Yugi. He smiled. "Wow, did you win all those yourself?"

I nodded. "You've seen my room which is full of dolls, right? I collect them."

He nodded in reply. "It's practically a tribute to them."

I giggled. "Do you collect anything?"

"Duelling cards..."

We walked along, still talking about each other's hobbies, until Yugi had spoken what things Yami liked, I remained quiet, but I listened. Soon enough we had ventured from the bustling high street to the quiet shop entrance.

"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Yugi asked.

I paused. "Uh..... if you aren't – "

"Don't worry, I'm officially inviting you." He said cheerfully.

My jaw dropped, and turned into a smile. "Great!"

I mean – Oh no.

o

I haven't been inside Yugi's Game Shop before, only at the shop – get what I mean? His home! I sat on the sofa with the phone in my hands, waiting for someone to pick up.

"Hello?" A voice sad.

"Hello, Callista?"

"Charybdis?? Where are you?" She asked.

"I'm at my friend's house. I'm staying over for dinner. Tell mum and dad."

"Who's the friend? The guy you like?"

"No, look, just shut up and tell mum and dad, okay? Bye." I hissed and put the phone down before Callista could protest and returned to Yugi who was sitting opposite me.

"All done." I said sweetly, changing my tone instantly. "My mum and dad should know that I'm at your place."

Yugi's grandpa sauntered over us, handing some chocolate bars to keep us company before dinner was served.

"It's nice to have you over, Charybdis." He said.

I paused. "R-Really, Mr Moto??"

"Didn't I tell you that you could call me 'Grandpa'?" He asked.

I shook my head. "No.... grandpa...."

"Uh... Grandpa, how about if I show Charybdis around while you prepare dinner?" Yugi suggested.

His grandpa nodded.

o

We both sat on Yugi's bed, glaring at each other viciously – well we weren't actually. I was only trying to bring more tension in the air. Yami and I were having a small duel. I had one with Yugi a few minutes ago and I lost (surprise, surprise) so now Yami and I were having a short and simple duel. I had 100 life points and Yami had 2000 life points – he hadn't lost any since we duelled. I was the one who kept making stupid risks and ended up activating a trap card he set out for me. I was playing into his hands too easily.

I sighed when I looked at my shabby deck. Yami grinned at me. "Do you want to give up??"

I shook my head. "No, not yet – you see I could still do this... It's my turn right?"

He nodded and looked back at his deck. God, he really was the King of Games. I concentrated back on my deck, before shifting my eyes to Yami who looked as if he was enjoying our little duel. I had a Scapegoat in my deck – a copy of the card Joey gave me a few months ago. I had Change of Heart and some other cards I didn't even know about. I looked at the Scapegoat again, then at the funny card with this funny black thing on it, then at my Scapegoat again, then at my Change of Heart.

"I play S – no, wait. I think I'll play um... no, not that one..... hold on, I got it... Yeah... No... no, no, no...." I was too busy muttering away to myself to notice that Yami was growing rather impatient.

"Are you stuck?" Yugi asked me as he floated around us.

"Of course not! I do know what I'm doing, I'm not really familiar with the game yet, just hold on, I'm nearly done...." I snorted at him.

Yami chuckled. "Leave her be, she just needs some more time."

I nodded at Yami and smiled at him, then glared at Yugi. "Okay, um.... I play Scapegoat."

I took out my card and placed it in front of me. "And I also play a card face down...." I mumbled.

Yami concentrated on my face down card.

"I play Celtic Guardian, destroy her Scapegoat." He ordered gently, and then I was out of words.

"I-I-I act-act-act-tivvvaateeeee...." I stammered, and then I sighed when I glanced nervously at my cards. I was sweating like mad from the pressure. "Okay, I surrender." I let my life points get wiped out and sighed again. "I really don't get how you can stand this game. It makes me feel nervous all the time when I hold the cards." I whined, and I flopped my head on my palm, still clutching the cards that hid my face. Do I give up too easily??

"Don't worry Charybdis, with more practise, you'll get to know the cards better." Yugi said, putting an invisible hand on my shoulder.

"You only need to know more basics, that's all." Yami added reassuringly.

"I know...." I said slowly. "Trust in the heart of the cards." We all said in unison and we grinned at each other.

o

Dinner at Yugi's house was quite 'fun'. We had vegetables, mashed potatoes and rice with some sweet and sour pork. Yugi and Yami walked me outside after dinner; I thanked them both and his grandpa and then headed to the direction of my house. I guess this day didn't turn out as bad as I thought. I whistled to myself as I skipped back home.

Callista was home. Mum and dad were out to visit some long lost friend. "You seem happy, maybe because you got to go to the house of your boyfriend." She said from the sofa as she flicked through TV channels with the remote control. I shrugged. "Say whatever you like, but yes, I am happy." I replied as I plopped down beside her.

"So, when are you going to make a move on him first?" Callista asked.

"Make a move on him?" I looked at her with confusion.

"Yeah, you know- kiss him or hug him??" She said.

I thought for a while. I've hugged Yami before – oh wait, that was Yugi. I cursed myself, and then looked at my sister. "When _should _I make a move on him?"

"Has he shown any signs that he likes you?"

I thought again. He kept me company at the football pitch – no. He didn't mind me screaming for help in his face – no. He didn't mind me breaking off his circulation from his arm back up on the Ferris Wheel or the Jolly Rocker – no. Wait....

"YES, YES, YES!!!" I cried happily and holding my arms up high as if giving something to heaven. "He lent me his jacket."

Callista shook her head. "No, no, that's not a sign. All boys would do that if you were cold or something."

Crack! My heart and face cracked as she said that. It's not??? Oh the shame!!!!!!!!!!!!

"But you fancy him, right??" She asked.

I nodded uneasily.

"Then make a move on him first, like I said before. It doesn't matter whether he likes you or not."

"It doesn't??" I asked.

"Yeah.... Flirting is fun."

"Flirting is.... Fun?????" I repeated her words.

o

I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror. I had waddled upstairs after Callista gave me some tips on flirting and had locked myself inside. Okay. I breathed. Callista once told me to:

Try batting your eyelashes at him

I stared at myself, and blinked. Once, twice, three times and blinked once more. Then I cringed. God no! I look like a freak!

Smiling seductively

I smiled 'seductively' – I raised one of my eyebrows, pulled my lips back to show my palish yellow coloured teeth and my face and dry lips cracked that they bled – I need to cut down on fried foods. Ouch!

Wear sexy clothes

After hours of ransacking through my closet, I found nothing 'sexy'. I only found zipper tops, jeans and t-shirts. I didn't like the image of 'sexy' a lot. I know!! A light bulb flashed over my head. I tried to remember what Mai was wearing at the Amusement Park. I remembered her wearing this purple denim looking jacket, a whitish coloured top that showed her flat stomach and curves and a short skirt and knee high boots. Maybe I ought to get clothes like those sometime....

Play hard to get

Of course I'm hard to get. I'm one of a kind human on this planet. I don't give up without a fight unless the situation is bad – what's this to do with flirting eh?

Pout slightly

Again, what is this to do with flirting?? Anyhoo I tried pouting and ended up looking like a duck or someone with inflated lips. God, no wonder Joey couldn't take it when I pouted. I felt embarrassed.

Have clean hair, clean nails, spot free and smooth skin and a stunning necklace

I got plenty of those. I found a nice silver one; with three pink jewels dangling down into three different strands of silver and put it on. I stared at myself hard, arched my eyebrows, smiled, glared and done all these stupid facial expressions to see what I looked like – and somehow felt that I was getting uglier and uglier every minute. Feeling frustrated, I unlocked the bathroom door and marched to my room where I flopped back on my bed and stared at the ceiling.

Callista came running up the stairs a few minutes later. She peeked inside my door, which was ajar and looked at my state. "What's with you?"

I craned my neck at her. "I'm ugly......" I sobbed and I broke down – with the spotlight on focusing on me! That's right, let's all look at ugly Charybdis now!!

"What????" She asked.

"I'm ugly.... I can't flirt.... I can't smile.... I've got greasy hair...... I'm totally a Boy – REPELLANT." I moaned.

"Come on, I'll help you! I used to popular in school. I'll get you tidied up."

"I don't want to be popular."

"You want to become pretty."

"Yeah...."

I let my older sister sit me down on a stool in front of the bathroom mirror and she let my hair loose from the ponytail and ruffled through.

"What shampoo do you use??"

"Johnson's Baby."

"God, no wonder; you need to use L'Oreal, Johnson's baby is for, well – babies, Charybdis!"

"I... do??" I mouthed, looking at my messy hair. "I didn't know that...."

Callista sweat dropped. "Of course you do need to use L'Oreal, why don't you let your wonderful sister help you??" Callista asked sweetly.

I shrank back. "You're freakin' me out, girl."

"Sorry." She smiled sheepishly.

o

I stared at myself in the mirror once Callista had 'made me up'. She had combed my hair to make it less tangled and straighter and tied some of my hair into a ponytail behind with some remaining hair let down. She added some blusher to my pale cheeks, a bit of eye shadow and lipstick and then marched me into her closet and she began rifling through her own clothes. (Callista and Charybdis have the same dress size except the same trouser size and shoe size)

She came out holding a really tight black top and I put it on. It showed my quite – flat and white stomach and I cringed. Next she ruffled through my closet and found my dark jeans, which were too long for me and made me wear it with a brown suede belt. Then she took a few accessories out and put a black bracelet around my left wrist and a silver chain. She took her high-heeled boots and made me wear them. I couldn't walk in them and nearly fell down but manage to keep my balance and walk over to the mirror.

I gasped. Okay, okay – cut the part when the ugly chick becomes hot babe part. I hadn't changed that much and I definitely wasn't ugly back then. I just noticed that I looked a lot thinner and getting the image of sexy. I cheered.

"Does that mean I have to wear these styles of clothing now??" I asked, pulling at my top.

Callista crossed her arms and nodded. "You wanted to be a Boy _– Magnet_, not a Boy – _Repellent_, don't you??" She asked looking at me as I posed around.

I nodded. "Well I guess so."

o

Callista's tips on flirting hadn't really helped much. I decided to see if I could try it on someone and see how his or her reactions were. I could pick Joey – he would help me out, no, he likes Mai. So now I was left with more choices:

1) Duke Devlin (I grinned mischievously at him and he looked at me as if I was mad or something)

2) Tristan Taylor. I'm not very sure either, since Duke and he are fighting over Serenity.

3) Yugi Moto. No, Tea likes him

4) Yami. Heck no, Tea may like him as well! (Actually I like him)

5) Bakura. Gulps, no, he's scary

6) Ryou.

Yes!! Ryou! I searched around the school for him but he wasn't there, until I spotted Tea at the corner I asked where Ryou was and I found out that he was off sick.

"Oh yes, we're thinking of holding a Bonfire party in the rooftops of Joey's house." Tea added. "At 6pm, are you coming?"

I nodded. "Course!"

I waved at Tea when we split up and then I went back to my own matters. I cursed. Oh why, why, why?? Why is the guy I need most to experiment on just had to stay off school – today??? I cursed at him. I had Callista wake up extra early to do my make up for this experiment and now it's totally wasted. I stomped back over to the School grounds and sat down on the school fountain, avoiding the wet parts on the bench and stared at the floor with my head in my hands.

"Charybdis??"

I looked up and freaked out, almost falling into the fountain but he helped me up onto the bench. I gulped as Yami sat down beside me holding several books on Ancient Egypt. I felt my heart beating harder and harder. Okay, this is it. It's now or never!! I squeezed my eyes shut, and began fingering the rims of my skirt until I was left with broken seams.

I chickened out once Yami spoke again.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Just.... Nothing...." I mumbled.

He peered at me. "You seem rather quiet today. Is something on your mind?"

_I had to do it.... I had to do it.... I had to do it.... I NEED TO TRY IT..._

I cleared my throat and smiled 'seductively'. "Yeah... I um... feel rather uh... good today..." I gawked secretly at what I had just whispered quietly and 'seductively' in his ear when I reached over. I then scooted back to scan our surroundings. No one around to disturb us?

No one.

Perfect...

Ehehehehehe..... (Imagine an evil laugh or devilish look)

Already my brain is buzzing with what would happen if I manage to flirt and seduce him successfully, I grinned devilishly, licked my lips about three times right from the bottom to the top and rubbed my hands together while still smiling sleazily with drool coming out from my mouth as I was getting rather um.... Carried away with my thoughts....

He observed how I was grinning at him mischievously. "Charybdis?.. You seem... different." He replied, not moving back when I had shifted over to him – our legs almost touching. "You're not always like this."

"Different??" I fiddled with my hair as I concentrated back on the floor. Did he like it if I tried to flirt with him?? ....I'm not acting the way I should. This isn't me. This isn't what I do normally – especially with boys. That's why I suck at this. I'm not like this, not like this at all. I sighed and dropped my smirk and hung my head in my hands before looking at him.

"I feel stupid, Yami." I moaned and placed my head on his shoulder suddenly.

He didn't flinch. "Did something happen?"

I nodded and started to sob quietly. "I'm trying to become someone I'm not!" I wailed hysterically as I closed my eyes. Too bad no tears were leaking out. I imagined what he'd do if I was crying; he'd probably...

_Look into my eyes the exact way I see those actors and actresses look at each other in those sappy soaps just in front of a dawning sunset which gleams its yellow, warm rays over the couples as the male raises his hand up to the woman's face and brushes away a small wet tear and looks deeply into her eyes._

"_Do not cry, Charybdis." Yami will say. "For I will be there whenever you need me." _

_And I will start crying hysterically deliberately and wrap my arms around him and start sobbing and croaking: "Don't leave me." _

_And then Yami will keep his hands around me and speak softly into my hair: "I won't, never will....." _

Instead, he said:

"What happened?"

I froze and I was thrown back into reality. No, I couldn't!! I couldn't tell him that I wanted to change to impress him!! Or could I???

ooooooooooo

Okay, this chapter was supposed to be updated a few dyas ago since Bonfire Night was yesterday, soz! Thnx for reviewing ppl!


	11. Bonfire Night and a Kiss

Sorry if this chapter is updated a little bit too late (it's Tuesday now ah!) Well, here you go anyway!

**Chapter 11**

**Bonfire Night**

"I-I uh.... You see I really....er...." I was finding it extremely hard to say it and I was beginning to squirm and sweat in my seat.

Yami looked at me and I shrank back. "I....I.....I...." I wanted to faint in his arms and pass out, then later wake up back at home or in a hospital bed, instead I said: "Can I help you carry those books?"

He paused, before frowning a little. "Yes, of course... I'm heading to Yugi's locker with them."

"Oh.. uh.. okay... here I'll take this one." We both stood up and I reached down beside Yami for a huge, fat book about Egyptian Civilisation, until –

"No, don't. It's too heavy for you!" He took the book back before it broke my arms and just for a tiny split second his warm and strong fingers touch my cold, clammy ones and I felt a jolt of electricity run through me. I think he felt the same as I did. My hair stood on end – and his?? Well, it's all styled into its normal wild self so I'm not very sure..... but I did notice that his hair had more touches of gold – or was it always like that?? My eyeballs stopped swivelling in every direction and I shook my head vigorously to get my vision back together.

We let go immediately of each other's hand – and the book went flying to the floor. We both stared at each other, for a looooooong, looooooong, looooooong time before I broke the stare away and went to the aid of the poor book which had been thrown on the dirty floor and waiting for one of us to pick it back up. I crouched down and picked it up.

"Poor book...." I mumbled while I stood up holding it with my hands as I fingered the dirt – filled pages, which had splattered, over the floor. "I'll make it up to you, Yami, I promise." I apologised, thinking how angry the librarian would be when she found out about this book.

Yami nodded, I bet he was also puzzled by what happened just 5 minutes ago because he was staring at his hand now and then and I burned to the ground with embarrassment. We both walked up to Yugi's locker in silence and then I shoved the book inside and left without saying anything.

ooooooo

Back at home I scrubbed the makeup off my face. Tea said I looked pretty but I didn't like it. I looked at my scrawny and boring self at the mirror and sighed, before going back to my room and flinging off my uniform and dressing into a plain white shirt and jeans. I sat back on my chair, looking at my diary and also the outside world from my window. I opened my diary, picked up my pen and was about to write something until my door opened and Callista came in. I shut the diary fast. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" I said.

"Charybdis, I was knocking but you didn't hear." She replied.

I looked away. "Sorry...."

She looked at me carefully. "Did something happen? How did your attempts to flirt work out?"

I groaned. "Oh terrible!! He isn't those kinds to be seduced easily, and I can't flirt anyway!! I'm hopeless at it, I'm a loser!!!!!" I wailed and I hugged Callista before she could protest and fling me back.

But she didn't.

She hugged me back. "Don't worry little sis. I'll teach you another technique of getting your man."

I sat back, my nose dribbling and waterworks on. "H-How??" I snorted.

"The 67 techniques of kissing!" She exclaimed.

I sniffled. "Huh??" I gave her a blank look.

"Wait here." She ran out from my room and back into her own, I heard some cupboards opening and closing and several stuff being flung around and then she finally came back holding a small pocket-sized book in her hands.

I gaped at the kissing lips on the pink cover. '_The 67 Techniques of Kissing and How to Master Them_' it said in bold, red love heart shaped letters. I snorted with laughter. "What is this stuff??!!"

Callista cringed. "It's mine. I bought it secretly when I was about 17 or 18."

I gaped at her, remembering to bring my open jaw when she handed me it. I flipped through it mercilessly; part giggling madly and part interested. It told you how to French kiss properly. I looked back at my older sis. "Why did you get it?"

She shrugged. "Try it out. You could learn something from there."

I raised my eyebrows while grinning. "Does that mean that you also learned something from this book??"

She blushed. "Just read it and you'll know." And she left me in my room to explore the contents. "But I'll tell you this, when you kiss, you may feel hot and your partner may feel cold, and you might not be able to breathe so breathe through your nose, not your mouth, got that?"

"Ooh, so it's like fire kiss and ice kiss??" I giggled. She didn't reply.

o

The book told me to try kissing with lipstick on a tissue first or on your hand. So I did. I gaped horrendously at my lip print on the tissue. God, I hadn't noticed how big my lips looked like before. I stared at the print of the long and thick lipstick. The feeling of embarrassment and awkwardness swept over me again and I scrunched the tissue up, and ripped it into tiny pieces into the bin. I wiped the lipstick off and washed my face.

That was it. I'll never get a boy in my whole life. I'd probably stay single in my life too..... Touch wood!! I hugged the wooden doorway and didn't let go for a glorious 5 minutes. I let go of it finally and waddled back into my room, I stared at the book. It was a load of bogus, crap and full of lousy stuff that I'd never master properly. I scowled at it, who wants to learn how to kiss properly anyway? I'd rather experience the real thing, and learn it by kissing with someone....

Immediately my thoughts ventured back over to Yami and I slapped myself. He probably just finds me as a friend anyway, I could kiss my love goodbye, but I could still have a crush on him though. I pounced on my bed and dug out my diary again. I just remembered that I hadn't put in a description for my newest character in this 'book'.

Yami, the good spirit who dwells inside Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, totally the opposite of Bakura and is probably 100 good. He's hot, manly, hot, attractive, kind, hot, gentle, and did I mention hot? Yeah, I did – about 5 or 10 times. Just watching him wants me want to start slobbering over my Sloppy Joe or whatever unfortunate object that I am holding when he appears. But who am I kidding? I'm lucky enough that no other girl apart from Tea (I think) fancies him (or does she like Yugi?) and go down to his house to propose or something. I could start stalking him, I pictured myself in my mind, placing flowers on his doorstep before running off secretly, sending him love letters and chocolates and stuff I like, like my beanie babies and chocolate bars. I had slapped myself hard, really hard this time. I'm starting to sound rather – mental now.

_He is perfect, I suppose in every way. Totally your Mr Right. His chiselled and rugged features on his smooth and rough face makes me want to kiss him. His flashing, glowing violet orbs in his eyes makes me want to melt and his posture... ooh – the way he keeps his hands in his pockets.....Sighs..._

_I'm also quite lucky that I can see him both in and out of spirit form. Thank you Grandma for bestowing this power to me! Oh yeah, I'll never ever even think of exorcising him! _

I slammed my book shut. Apparently I've been getting far too carried away with writing that it's dinnertime.

ooooooo

The next day at school, we were in art for last period and I was busy doodling with my colouring pencils on an A3 piece of paper. It took ages to do, since my pencils could only colour one ounce on it every second. Now, to add some blue...lalalala.....some red...hum dee dooo daa....some yellow...ooh la la....

When I had finished, which was donkey years ago, I marvelled at my work. I had drawn and coloured in a blended sun setting and darkening sky filled with rich colours of yellow, red, black and orange perfectly, and a bluey - greeny sea and then a couple in the middle, coloured messily and black because I can't draw people's silhouette. They were both kissing in front of the sun, with teensy words, which were the names 'Yami' on the male and 'Charybdis' on the female. I giggled after marvelling gloriously at my picture and picked it up, and ventured over to Joey who was standing on the floor painting a picture which stood on a stand a couple of centimetres in front of him. He had a paint palette in his hand, the other holding a thick brush and his cheeks had some paint on. I stood behind him, watching him tap his chin and think while going 'hmmmm' and peered over his shoulder (on tiptoe since I ain't tall enough) and stared at the portrait.

A mass bridge of yellow covered his whole sheet, and a slap of pink paint was in the middle between the bridges of yellow. What I assumed to be a 'human' in the picture, had uneven eyes that squinted opposite each other, a long vertical, U - shaped thing in between the eyes and a long, red horizontal line quavered its way below the U –shape. I raised an eyebrow and stifled a giggle. "What's that? Some sort of mutated banana monster?" I said, causing Joey to leapt up with fright when he heard my voice in his ear. He landed back in the art department on his feet back on earth after jumping 1 centimetre high in the air, before turning around facing me angrily.

"Gurlie, don't sneak up on people like dat!" he roared furiously. I stepped back, scratching my ear and smiled nervously. "S-Sorry."

His face returned back to its normal colour and he softened a little when I shrank back. "Whatcha' doing here anyway? Finished already?"

I nodded, grinning again once the fierce Joey had calmed down and I shoved my finished piece of art into his face. He sniggered and I clutched it tightly when I brought it back in front of my chest. "What's so funny?" I asked questioningly.

"Dose things, what are dey?" he snickered, pointing to the 'Yami' and 'Charybdis' on the picture. I glanced at the coloured couple. "Why people, of course."

He let out a roar of his boisterous chuckling. "Dey look more like a banana."

"Well what is THAT supposed to be?" I snapped back, pointing back to his picture.

"That's Mai." He said proudly.

"The mutated banana?" I sniggered a little.

He growled. "That'd no monster, it's Mai? Have ya get your eyes tested yet, Gurlie?" I blinked back at him.

After 5 more minutes of debating, I decided to rest this case and let Joey finish his masterpiece and waddled over to Ryou who was sitting beside the light tables opposite me. "Hey Ryou!" I said as I pulled an empty seat over to him. He seemed to have taken quite a shock that he knocked over his tub of black paint beside him on the floor (not my side) and immediately all girls from every corner of the room zoomed up to his aid and pushed me away. They were asking him 'Are you okay, Ryou?' and 'Did you get any paint on yourself, Ryou?' while the real casualty right now was me.

I think I pulled a muscle when I was rudely pulled away, I glared angrily at the girl who had seated herself on MY chair and then I glared at the bunch of other girls bombarding poor Ryou with their hankies and scrubbing at his face where invisible paint were. My lip trembled a little when my picture floated over my face. I pulled it off and made an attempt to stand up, before Ryou managed to push his way through the girls and he looked worriedly at me. "Are you alright, Charybdis?" he asked me, as he helped me back onto my chair when I pushed the girl off by 'accident'. I nodded in reply.

Lucky him, man, he gets female idols everywhere, just like Duke who is a babe magnet. Which is why I sort of wonder whether Yami gets a fan club either. I knew I thought about this last time, but I'm honestly not sure. What about Tea? Who is the real person she likes??

The rest of the art lesson, I spent it talking to Ryou and doing portraits of each other. I hadn't noticed how good Ryou was in drawing, complimented him and he blushed a little. Then I tried drawing Ryou, but it ended up looking like a tub of ice cream. I had also made his skin too pale so it looked like strawberry ice cream with vanilla ice cream.

I also did a picture of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle at home on A4. I used paints from home so it didn't look really great. I tried to make a gold colour but it went rather orange instead and I went over the rims, but I manage to cover it up because I painted a black background. I used a black pen and traced the outlines of the puzzle, including the funny eye and even the edges. When I had finished I noticed that I had used up about 3 hours trying to make it perfect, to be honest, it looked sort of okay.

Boy, wouldn't he be happy?

ooooooooooo

It's Bonfire Night today. I arrived at Joey's house at 6:01pm and knocked on the door. No one was there. I knocked again. Still no reply. I blinked. The house seemed empty, and I looked around the parts, it was rather cold, and I tightened myself into my jacket to become warmer. I gripped the bags of food I had brought with me for this party and sighed. I wasn't that late now, was I?

"Charybdis?" I turned to face Tristan who was at the foot of the stairs. I blinked again. "What are you doing here?? Everyone's upstairs." He led me up and I blinked once more. "Um.... I thought we were holding the party in Joey's house." I said as I followed him up stairs. He took my bags once we reached to the top, and opened a door there, where we were at the rooftops.

"Guys?? There you are!" I said as I pranced over to them.

Everyone was here, standing or sitting in the rooftops. They were several picnic tables and chairs, with bags of stuff on top. I spotted Yugi talking to Tea, and I felt a wave of jealousy pass over me.... I shook my head and looked at Joey who had taken the bags off from Tristan, who returned back to the table. Duke was drinking a root beer watching from the edge and I saw Ryou sitting down with Tristan. And then I saw a girl, with long, light brown hair beside her brother....

"Serenity!" I cried and I bobbed over to her.

"Charybdis! I'm glad you could make it!" She said, as she turned round. We both smiled at each other. "Long time no see." I added.

"You said it." She replied, and Joey sauntered back over to the tables to leave us two girls alone.

"So how are you? Are Duke and Tristan giving you a hard time again?" I asked as we both sat down on an empty table away from the boys. Serenity shook her head. "They're fine, Charybdis. How are you?"

"Me? ... I guess I'm alright." I replied, looking at the table.

"Is your leg getting better?" She asked timidly.

"Yeah, I can move it freely now. It doesn't hurt nae (no) more either."

And we spent only about 10 minutes talking until it was time to eat; Duke and Tristan began fighting to sit beside Serenity. I felt rather ignored, and confused. But felt better when Tea and Ryou sat beside me. I spotted Yami sitting in spirit form at the spare seat next Yugi, and he waved at me. I didn't do anything but I returned a secret smile. Then once again, the table was filled with loud chatting and plates of food that everyone went to dig in and battle over.

BOOM!!

I screamed the loudest and stopped abruptly in embarrassment when everyone had started laughing. It was only a firework. I cringed when everyone left their seats when they had finished to watch the firework display. I remembered my picture I had done this afternoon and went back to the table to retrieve it. I found it, just rolled up gently under my jacket and I unravelled it and beamed, then returned back to the gang who were still watching the display. A blue firework sailed into the dark sky ad cracked, revealing a ball of blue light shaping into the form of Blue Eyes White Dragon. I swooned when it began to fade away slowly.

"Hey, aren't those Kaiba Corp's fireworks?" I asked.

"How'd you know?" Duke asked as he glanced over at my direction, with an eyebrow raised.

"I spotted the Copyright symbol which appeared on the dragon." I replied, pointing to it; a tiny circle with an invisible 'C' in the middle and itty bitty writing on when the next firework had flew up into the form of Monster Reborn and Swords of Revealing Light. "Hey, look! They also have fireworks the shape of magic cards and trap cards."

Joey snorted, and I remembered that he didn't like the president of Kaiba Corp, and I also thought about Mokie, I wondered how he was. Soon, when the fireworks no longer came back on, everyone returned to the table.

"What are we going to do now? There's still a lot of time left, and we've eaten everything." Ryou asked as he stared at the empty plates.

"I know, let's square dance!" I suggested cheerfully.

Everyone raised his or her eyebrow at me. "Honestly Gurlie, I don't know where you get these crazy ideas, but what the heck – ?!"Joey said and he looped my arm and we began dancing in circles. They all shrugged and began following our actions. Duke and Tristan fought again but then Ryou came over to Serenity and they both began dancing.

We only danced for several minutes before the next firework came up and we stopped. Watching the others focusing back onto the fireworks, I hunted around for Yugi and Yami. Eh?? I glanced at every corner of the rooftops, but I couldn't find them, even Tea was gone too...

I sneaked away from the group without them even noticing and prowled over to the darker regions where it was also quiet from the loud bangs from the fireworks. I spotted two figures ahead.

Tea and Yugi.

They were performing fire and ice!!


	12. Meeting Seto Kaiba, Joey goes bananas

Hiya ppl! Here you go! A chapter with Kaiba in it! Hope you like it! I know it may be a little weird, but this chapter was supposed to be just a 'guest' chapter for him. Thanks for Laura and the rest who reviewed! Gives hugs and kisses to ya all!

I was thinking of making Charybdis get extremely jealous of Tea/Anzu and Yami, but decided to keep it for another time, for another chapter!

**Chapter 12**

**Meeting Seto Kaiba**

I have secretly sworn to the Gods of heaven that I mustn't tell what I had seen in the rooftops to Joey, Tristan, Ryou and Duke. Tea and Yugi had immediately broken off once I had screamed and grabbed me into the deepest, darkest corner of the rooftops before I could catch the rest's attention where they questioned me how much I had seen and know, but I laughed in their faces slyly, and replied, "All of it, muhahahahaha!!!" and I also added, "So... are you two going to start dating??"

Yami didn't seem to know what had happened either, he was busy inside the Millennium puzzle, camping out in his 'Soul Room'. I cocked my head to the side. "Soul Room??" I had asked. "What's that? Is that like a bedroom?" He looked thoughtfully out into the green grass filled with compost of leaves where we were having lunch under the tree by the football pitch. He looked back at me as I had just taken a huge ravenous bite out of my Big Softie rudely and I quickly covered my mayonnaised mouth and smiled nervously behind my palm. "You could call it that."

And immediately I had an impression in my head. A luscious rich red walled room about the size of my yard, with a king sized bed in the middle, the four-poster ones (ooh) with silky, transparent palish red curtains hanging down gracefully over the stands. There are elaborate gold chandeliers hanging down from the white ceiling and beside each side of the bed with gold candles in them, glowing their beautiful, warm and faint glow to bring up.... atmosphere... There is no windows, except the balcony with sliding doors and matching red curtains just opposite the bed, which overlooks something in the Millennium Puzzle or Yugi's brain. There is also a door leading to the en-suite bathroom!

I looked at the picture of the Millennium Puzzle in my hands, and frowned. I glanced at Yami, who seemed to be dozing lazily besde me with his eyes closed. There's no need of giving it to Yugi/Yami anymore, and I ripped it up in half quickly, got up from my seat, walked over from the tree and stuffed it in the schoolground litterbin.

oooooooo

I haven't really noticed the shady character who sits at the back of the classroom. I had only noticed, that the character who rarely says anything to me, let alone even glanced or brushed past me was Seto Kaiba. I overheard a couple of girls in my class looking through this teen girl magazine called 'Cosmo Girl' and giggling and whispering to each other as they pointed to the pages they were looking, huddled up together in their seats.

I hovered above them, trying to sneak into their privacy without them notcing and instantly they sensed my annoying presence and slammed their magazine shut, before turning to me. "Do you mind, Charybdis? We're trying to read here." She said 'politely'.

I frowned a little. "What are you reading about anyway??" I asked. They both looked at each other, before showing me the magazine. I had a look at the contents. "Seto Kaiba.... Bah!! Who wants to read about him??!!" I snorted as I looked at the interview/report about him. There was also a picture of him, wearing a long, black trench coat with white fasteners and buckles all around, with a black shirt underneath and black trousers. He had piercing blue eyes that made his short chestnut-brown hair stand out even more.

Only one thing popped in my mind about him: Geez, what a poser!

"What do you mean 'who wants to read about him?' Seto is the most hottest guy in the school!"

I raised an eyebrow. Well, he is Mokie's big brother, and the owner and president of Kaiba Corp; I guess the dude needed some respect. I shrugged hastily. "Well, he ain't that bad, but – "

I shut up as soon as I had felt an unwelcome presence of a person brush past me, and I glanced to the side from the corner of my eyes to see who had rudely just hit against my shoulder. Seto Kaiba. He marched over to his desk and sat down, didn't even bother to look up at us, the girls were gobsmacked and I was wondering what was his problem.

ooooooo

Mokie and I spent another afternoon hanging around in the Central Park, for about an hour or so, and then I had brought Mokie back to Kaiba Corp where his brother was expecting him to be.

"Hey, are there any bathrooms around?" I asked, as I cursed myself secretly for drinking so many strawberry slushies back at Delifrance.

Mokie smiled. "Yeah, there is, in Kaiba Corp." And he led me inside, showing his pass to the security guards and we both hopped into the elevator to the 3rd floor. "Don't worry, you're my guest here, Charybdis." He said reassuringly as I looked back at the guards.

I shrugged helplessly. "Um... okay then." This was the first time I had been inside Kaiba Corp. I looked around the huge marbled floors, admiring my reflection as we walked around; I saw doors leadings to offices and other rooms and also employees marching around. Finally we arrived at a lonely corridor after turning left and right many times. There were only two doors there, one with a pink female figure on it with a skirt, and one with the male – ah, you know!

"I'll wait for you outside." Mokie said when I pushed the door open and disappeared inside.

About a few minutes later, I re emerged from the bathroom and stepped back out. The corridor was empty. No one was there. A small howl from the air conditioner blew around me. "H-Hello??" I croaked nervously. "Mokie?? Are you there???"

No sign of anyone.

oooooooo

Oh no, no, no! I looked around my unfamiliar surroundings, trying to locate myself an exit but failing miserably when all I saw was more doors and empty corridors that looked the same. I walked around, hoping to at least see someone around and craned my head to the side and back scanning until something hit me hard in front when I had turned my whole body behind me to see if anyone came out from the doors I just passed. I yelped when I had bounced back and landed on the floor flat faced. Two strong hands lifted me up and dragged me towards the way where I was just walking. I shook my head vigorously to stop it from spinning in circles and looked up. "Who – Who are you??" I squeaked quietly.

The old man in the charcoal grey suit and sunglasses didn't seem to hear, continued to drag me along to the elevator after passing a donkey number of doors, and took out a small walkie-talkie from his pocket in his suit and pressed a button. "Sir, I've got the intruder, over."

There was a short muffled feedback, until a husky, masculine voice replied back. "Bring the intruder to me, Leo."

"Yes sir."

I gulped. The 'Leo' man pressed the button going to the top floor as soon as we entered the elevator and the doors closed. I didn't say anything during the 2-minute ride except shuffle in my shoes and listen to the faint music playing in the background.

DING!

He led me back out once the doors opened. We were on the top floor, where there were only a few doors but filled with people. I followed Leo past a corridor and into a clearing where there was a closed door and lots of reporters were standing in front either shouting for interviews or filming. Once Leo and I stepped into view, the paparazzi people dashed over in a matter of seconds and we were both engulfed in blinding flashes from their cameras and non-stop annoying gibbering.

"Mr Leo, as one of Mr Kaiba's security guards, can you – "Mr Leo pushed past the reporters still clutching my arm as we tried to make our way.

"Oh, and who is this young lady?" A reporter said when they finally noticed me.

"Perhaps Mr Kaiba's girlfriend?" Another shouted in the background.

"Young lady, what is your name???" And then I was crowded with reporters shoving their microphones at me, their notepads jabbing at my arms, and their cameras making me feel dizzy. I swear; a few reporters got my photo.

"That's quite enough!"

Everyone stopped, and turned to the direction of the new voice, including me. My eyes yearned and throbbed to look at my savoir but failed because all I could see was white and yellow, but I could make out a blurry vision of a tall male, with short brown hair wearing a white coat. He marched in front of me, ignoring the reporters who were trying to make pathetic attempts to ask him several questions and grabbed my arm from Leo fiercely, then walked back to his room with me following blindly with him. It was embarrassing when I smacked into his doorway when I was supposedly going into his door, and I was sure several paparazzi got that picture....

I couldn't believe it, Seto Kaiba was marching me to his office leaving Leo in charge of getting rid of the pesky paparazzi. He slammed the door shut angrily behind us and I made my way blindly again to a black chair opposite his desk.

"Move. That's **my** seat." He stated coldly.

I tried to peer at his glowering form above me, squeaked an apology and once again, blindly made my way to the chair, which I was supposed to be sitting in. He sat in his swivel chair facing me and I gulped once I couldn't see anymore white and yellow – but his intense, piercing blue eyes that felt like ice on my skin. I gulped once more, somehow that frown on his face made me think that this is something to do with me...

"How did you manage to penetrate my security?" He asked sternly.

I stammered. "Uh... uh.... Mokie brought me in." I replied weakly.

He didn't even twitch, except stare.

Stare.

Stare.

Stare at me!

I stared back at him.

He didn't stop staring at me

My lower lip trembled and I looked down at my lap where my fingers lay all sweaty and clammy.

He still didn't stop staring except narrow his eyes at me, and finally moved his fingers from his documents in front of him to the buzzer on the phone that lay beside his laptop.

"Yes sir?" it was Leo.

"Are all the reporters gone?"

"Yes, sir, all of them have left."

"Good, find Mokuba, and bring him to me."

"Very well then, sir."

He let go of the buzzer and then focused back on me. "So you're that 'friend' Mokuba keeps telling me about. Charybdis."

I blinked blankly at him. "Uh.... Yeah.... Mokuba's told me a lot about you too.... S - I mean um... Mr – "

"Kaiba." He interrupted.

"Uh... yes, Mr Kaiba. It's a pleasure to finally to meet you." And I stuck my hand out to him across the desk. He glared at me and I instinctively pulled back.

He didn't budge, and thankfully there was a loud knocking on the door and Mr Kaiba averted his scary gaze to the door from me. I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Even though it seemed as if we were having a staring contest, my heart pounded against my rib cage like hell. "Come in." He said calmly.

Leo opened the door, with Mokuba coming in first. He sauntered over to my side and smiled at me. "Seto, I brought Charybdis here, it's not her fault. I'm sorry if I caused you any problems," I smiled back at Mokie reassuringly.

"Did I say whose fault this was?" Mr Kaiba said. "Mokuba, please don't bring any _visitors_ here anymore without my permission, do you understand?"

Mokuba nodded meekly. "Yes Seto."

Mr Kaiba straightened up and pointed at me. "And you. I don't allow anyone to come in and waltz around except from employees."

I blinked again, and Mokie dragged me back out. "I'll just take Charybdis back outside, Seto."

"No, Mokuba, you stay here. Leo will escort her away." Mokie looked at me and sat on the seat while Leo led me out. "Please follow me." He said as he walked back towards the elevator. When I shut the door behind me, I could hear Mr Kaiba talking again. "Mokuba, I don't want you to be friends with that girl,"

"But why, big brother??" I heard Mokuba ask.

"She is nothing but a troublemaker. She is in my school and I have seen her – "

That was it. My face cracked with fury and I pushed the door back open. Seto Kaiba glared at me again. "I thought I told Leo to take you away."

"He was, but until I overheard your conversation I just had to come back!" I said. I glanced at Mokuba who was wide-eyed.

"This is between me and my little brother and none of your concern." He replied back, still keeping his 'calm look'.

"I don't care, if you are Mokuba's big brother, why don't you at least give him some respect he deserves and give him free rights??" I demanded angrily.

He raised an eyebrow to me. "Get out."

Mokuba leapt off his seat and ran to my side. "Charybdis, stop saying that!" he mouthed. "I'm okay, really!"

"But – "

"Just go, I'll meet you outside Kaiba Corp." He whispered to me. I nodded helplessly, giving one of my famous death glares to Seto Kaiba before storming back out and slamming the door.

oooooooo

"Charybdis!" Mokuba shouted, as he ran towards me from the entrance. I paused in my tracks when I noticed that I had sauntered over to Kaiba car park as soon as I heard his voice and looked up.

"Mokie!" I cried when he stopped in front of me. "So, how'd it go?"

"Umm.... Seto's forbid me to see you again, I'm sorry, but we can still hang around at the park secretly sometimes. I'm sorry about my big brother, he's had a really hard day and – "

I raised my hand up to silence him. "There's no need for you to apologise. I'm sorry for bursting in like that, I was just so angry when he called me a troublemaker and when he said that he didn't want you to be my friend."

"We are still friends, right?" He asked.

"Sure." I replied cheerfully.

The doors to the carp park opened from the side, just opposite from where we were standing and Kaiba appeared, along with Leo and other bodyguards. He signalled the others to stay and walked up to us. "Mokuba, are you coming?" He asked, ignoring me as if I wasn't even standing in front of him – which I was.

Mokuba nodded, then looked back at me and I smiled back at him. He ran over to the bodyguards, and then Kaiba focused back on me. "You are not to come for Mokuba any longer."

I glared at him, noticing how tall he was. His shadow covered my whole body, and he leered at me downwards while I stared at him with my head facing upwards and it was beginning to make my neck get sore. "I understand, but I wanna tell you something. You are Mokuba's older sibling, but that doesn't give you the right to tell him which people he wants to be friends with."

He glared back at me. "I care for Mokuba."

"Yeah right." I snorted, looking to the side with my arms crossed, and then suddenly he grabbed my hand out and grabbed my chin, tilting my face up to make me look at him.

"You have quite a mouth there." He smirked widely, despicably and evilly as he concentrated on my features.

"I know I do." I retorted back at him, grinning back at him.

He let go of my chin and hand roughly and marched back over, where a huge, posh looking black car pulled up and he vanished inside. The car sped past me; I spotted Mokuba waving to me secretly and Kaiba still smirking irritably. I glared back at him from my spot, and watched the car zoom out from view.

oooooooo

The next morning, as soon as I had step foot into the classroom, just one toe, everyone stopped in their tracks and stared at me. I looked back at them as I made my way to my seat. "Um... lovely morning, isn't it?" I asked nervously when they still didn't stop looking at me. I sent them a death glare this time, and they turned back to their normal actions, and whispering things.

A bunch of female students rushed over to me quickly, all smiling at me.

"When did you two start dating?"

Huh?

"Why didn't you tell us before??"

What?

"I can't believe you're dating 'him'!"

Who?

"You two hardly speak in class!"

"What are you all talking about?? I'm not dating anyone!" I replied.

"Very funny, Charybdis, we – "

"GURLIE!!!" I turned my attention to Joey and Yugi, who were already in the classroom. "Morning guys!" I said cheerfully when I shooed the girls away and took my seat in front of them. I dropped my happy smile when they didn't return anything back to me. I raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong with you?"

"What is the meaning of dis, Gurlie??!!" Joey yelled and he slammed something into my face and it slid down into my hands. I blinked in surprise, then glared at him. "What's the big idea??? What happened??!!" I barked at him.

His face was red with fury, and steam was pouring out from his ears. I glanced at Yugi who had a look of worry and content. "Joey, calm down." He said and Joey's face went rather pink. Yugi looked back at me. "Take a look yourself, Charybdis."

I looked at the magazine that lay in my arms. I stared, wide eyed and screamed loudly that the whole classroom of students looked at me. I picked the magazine up roughly and studied the writing carefully.

_Seto Kaiba and his secret lover – revealed!_

There was a picture Kaiba and I from yesterday's encounter, of me! ME ME ME!!! I screamed again.

"Dere's more in the next page." Joey fumed as he crossed his arms.

I flipped over, almost ripping the magazine in half when I glanced at the report.

It was revealed yesterday that Seto Kaiba had a secret lover, whose identity still remains unknown...

Then there was another picture, with Kaiba holding my arm – but it looked as if he was doing it in an affectionate way in the picture!! I can't believe this!! I screamed again, and was going to tear the magazine up, but Yugi stopped me before I could.

**Flashback**

Everyone stopped, and turned to the direction of the new voice, including me. My eyes yearned and throbbed to look at my savoir but failed because all I could see was white and yellow, but I could make out a blurry vision of a tall male, with short brown hair wearing a white coat. He marched in front of me, ignoring the reporters who were trying to make pathetic attempts to ask him several questions and grabbed my arm from Leo fiercely, then walked back to his room with me following blindly with him. It was embarrassing when I smacked into his doorway when I was supposedly going into his door, and I was sure several paparazzi got that picture....

**Flashback Ends**

"THIS ISN'T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!!" I screamed desperately.

"Well about the front cover??!!" Joey shouted back at me, as he took the magazine off me and pointed to the picture of Kaiba and I back at the car park.

**Flashback**

He glared back at me. "I care for Mokuba."

"Yeah right." I snorted, looking to the side with my arms crossed, and then suddenly he grabbed my hand out and grabbed my chin, tilting my face up to make me look at him.

"You have quite a mouth there." He smirked widely, despicably and evilly as he concentrated on my features.

"I know I do." I retorted back at him, grinning back at him.

**Flashback Ends**

"I've been framed!!" I yelled hopelessly toYugi. He looked at Joey again, quite unsure of what to do.

"What do ya mean 'You've been framed?' Look at da picture! It's clearly YOU and KAIBA there on that picutre!!" Joey yelled back at me.

Everyone was staring at us two now, and Yugi tugged on Joey's sleeve. "Joey, stop it. I believe Charybdis." He said.

"Thank you!!" I replied sarcastically. I glared back at Joey. "Why don't you believe me?! Is it because you and Kaiba are enemies and you don't like it if – "

"Shuddup! I can't believe you've been double –crossing us the whole time!"

A vein popped in my head. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'VE BEEN DOUBLE CROSSING YOU??????!!!!! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE SAYING THIS!!! YOU BIG, PIG HEADED JERK!!!" I screamed in his face, before stomping back out of the classroom. My face was buring red fiercely, as I felt embarrassment and humiliation when the whole class was continueing to stare at us both in conflict.

I stomped back out of the classroom, not even looking up to see where I was going but trying to ignore the whispers that were coming up from students again wherever I went. I bumped into something, and I looked up fiercely. "WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!"

I shut up as soon as I saw him towering over me. "We need to talk." He simply said, and dragged me into a lonely corridor. He let go of my arm as soon as we were away from civilisation and stood away from each other. I crossed my arms angrily and didn't even look at him. He raised his hand up, and I could see from the corner of my eyes that he had a copy of the magazine too. "Read this yet?" He asked.

I nodded briefly. "Bunch of lying pigs...." I mumbled.

"This is going to influence on my company and I can't have that, so I declare that we either announce our 'break up' to the public." Kaiba said as he glanced at me.

I leapt and turned to him. "What?? No way!! I can't just 'break up' with you! I have a title too! And we're not even a couple!!" I shouted.

"Your title isn't as important as mine, so you'll be doing a favour to both of us." He replied calmly. "And convincing people that we are definitely not a couple is difficult, Wheeler didn't seem to take it very well when he found out."

"I – " I said, but then I stopped, thinking back of the arguement that just happened several minutes ago. My anger welled back inside me, wanting to erupt in a grouchy manner and I felt like punching at the wall behind me. I inhaled and exhaled, trying to calm myself.

"Or else, we'll announce to the public that we are a couple and get married."

I blew it. "WHAT???????!!!!!!!! ARE YOU CRAZY???????!!!!!!!!" Just thinking of getting married to Seto Kaiba just made me feel sick. I couldn't ever love this arrogant pig! Immediately a thought of Kaiba and I in a church dressed in wedding outfits and people sitting on the pews around us watching him putting a ring on my finger just popped up in my mind and I felt disgusted

"So, what'll it be; the break up, or marriage proposal?"

I didn't say anything.


	13. Grandma Comes and Depression Problems

Hi ppl! Just to let you know, I've started a new fanfic, just click on my name and you'll see it, including more information on it in my profile! it's a Yami x OC fic and about vampires! Ja ne then, have a nice time reading this chater!

**Chapter 13**

**Grandma comes and Depression problems**

I trudged back the classroom, ignoring girls who had sauntered over me asking the most annoying and frustrating questions ever. The people who I had walked past had also started to whisper at me and chant my name in a rather offending way. Several girls at a corner even sneered at me scornfully; they were Seto Kaiba fans.

"When did you two start dating?" Someone asked me.

"Oh, I envy you!" Someone squealed.

"You're so lucky!" Someone cooed.

I screamed in mind, and halted in front of them, seething terribly that I wanted to punch the person who stood in front of me but I stopped myself in time and I let my hands out, and roared loudly to the skies. They all stared at me as if I was crazy and edged away from me slowly when I glared back at them, with slight drool hanging down from my mouth and glowing red eyes without my usual brown in them. "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

When I had finished screaming, I found that I was alone. I shrugged and walked back out from school with my bag slung over my shoulders. I didn't get the urge to go to school today. At class time, Joey ignored me, the rest did still talk to me but it was different, they didn't have that cheery mood when I spoke back to them and the rumours and whispering happening around me got even worse. Some girls in my class threw scrunched up paper balls at me. I raised an eyebrow, checked if the teacher wasn't looking and opened it reluctantly.

_Stay away from our Seto, bitch!_

Sadness welled up inside me and I tore the ball into tiny pieces and shoved them away from my desk. People were saying that Seto Kaiba and I were getting married! I felt terribly ill; the whispers had finally gone through my head and made me feel bad, sick and dizzy. I looked back at the school clock. It was only lunchtime. Am I dogging school then?? I looked around me, it was empty, since everyone had either gone down to the shops for lunch, or either at the cafeteria or at home.

I sniffled noisily, looked to the front again and hung my head down low and began to walk forwards in the empty school grounds until a hand caught my arm who lay stiffly by my side. I didn't even move and look at the person who had stopped me in my tracks.

"Charybdis, Yugi told me what happened."

I didn't even swoon at him secretly, but instead I roughly tore away my arm from his, glared at him from under my shady eyes without moving my head. I could've sworn I'd seen him step back a little. "Leave me alone." I growled at Yami.

"Calm down." He said worriedly when he saw my face growing redder and redder by the minute. I wasn't exactly mad, but more like embarrassed because I was actually threatening him. I turned my body slightly away from him.

"Calm down??? Calm down???!!!! How can you tell me to calm down when No.1, stupid reporter(s) make up fake stories about me and this guy who I don't even like, and No.2, my best friend scream at me in front of the class, is that embarrassing or what?? And No.3, people are whispering about me they point, giggle and make remarks about me each time I walk past... HOW CAN YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN AFTER ALL THAT???!!! HUH????" I was panting heavily and my face looked as if it was going to blow up any second if I screamed any longer.

Yami blinked back at me, frowning slightly and I looked back down. "I'm sorry," I said quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, this doesn't even relate to you." Yeah – and he was the Pharaoh too.

He dropped his frown slowly when I fell down to my knees, and winced slightly when I fell on a sharp rock. My knees had started to hurt and bleed but I ignored it. "It's not my fault I'm sensitive.... It's not my fault if I get angered easily... is there something wrong with me??!!" I cried out and then I broke down into gibbering nonsense and crying at the same time.

I didn't hear him stepping over to me and kneeling down in front of me, but I stopped crying when I felt his gentle fingertips slowly brushing away one of my icky salty tears from my cheek, and then brush one strand of my hair which was covering my tear-stricken face behind my ear. I sniffled again, and didn't look up, except cry harder and then without thinking, I wrapped my arms around his waist and insisted myself that I rubbed my wet face against his dry, warm chest and howl louder.

He was quite taken aback, but probably felt that I needed some consoling and allowed me to make him suffocate, he placed his hand gingerly over my shoulder reassuringly. Even though I had only 'met' him a couple of weeks ago, I felt as if I knew what Yami was like.

I released him very reluctantly and I sat back, still looking down at the ground, still crying, only softer this time, but the waterworks hadn't stopped yet. I think it was getting quite uncontrollable now.

"You should be hungry now, its lunchtime," he glanced at Yugi's wristwatch. "Would you – "

"Yes..." I mumbled, without thinking.

o

Yugi and I were sitting opposite each other in the café with a hot chocolate in our hands. Yami had swapped over again and I felt quite disappointed, but nonetheless happy that more than 1 person was out for me.

"How are you feeling?" Yugi asked.

"Um...." I stared back at my cup, watching my waving reflection in the brown concoction. "Refreshed, I guess...."

"That's good, you seem to have a lot of pressure nowadays." He replied. "And running away from your problems won't help you at all."

I thought for a while. I was thinking of not going to school. I wanted to hide from the rumours and from Joey. I was becoming afraid. I decided to ignore him and concentrated on a different topic. "I think its depression. I've got no friends, no one likes me..."

"Don't think that way, Charybdis. I'm still your friend."

"Yeah..." It was if I was a caterpillar coming out from my cocoon as a butterfly. The world hadn't become a brighter place in my mind yet and I slumped back down. "Why is Joey accusing me so... deeply??" I mumbled, trying to think of another term for 'intensely'.

"He doesn't like Kaiba, and since Joey and you are close friends, he probably just thought that you might look down on him too – like how Kaiba does."

"But I won't! I even had the nerve to shout at Kaiba for calling Joey a mutt once!" I protested loudly.

"I know you won't, you're our friend, Charybdis." Yugi added.

I looked back down at the cup. "I want to go home now, thanks for the lunch, Yugi – I'd better be going now." I got up, with my bag in my hands but Yugi stopped me.

"I'd better walk with you." He said when he reached for his bag.

o

As soon as we walked over to my house, and just almost to the front door, it opened and something red and white popped out. I screamed, Yugi leapt up in fright when the red and white thing landed in front of him and ogled him.

"Grandma!!" I said happily. "When did you come back from vacation?!"

The old woman dressed in red and white robes stopped leering at Yugi and smiled at me. She shook my hand, and hugged me close.

"Karidis!" grandma cooed as she ruffled my hair, pinched my cheeks and rub my body to see how much I've grown. I was starting to get embarrassed when I noticed Yugi staring at us with his mouth slightly opened.

Grandma stopped hugging me and jabbered away to me in Hakka (another Chinese language). I replied back in just fluent Cantonese since I didn't understand Hakka much, and we stood there chatting for a good 10 minutes or so, ignoring the boy who stood watching us.

"Grandma, I'd like you to meet Yugi. He's in my class." I said proudly, zooming to Yugi's side and smiling,

"Um... nice to meet you ma'am." Yugi replied nervously.

Grandma had again proceeded to ogle at him and Yugi looked at me. "Um.... Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Grandma, stop staring, it's rude!" I hissed to her in Cantonese. Grandma stopped and smiled. "I sense another being in you." She said in English with an accent.

Yugi and I both paused. "Well... you are a medium, aren't you gran??" I asked in English. Grandma knew how to speak and understand Cantonese, hakka and a little bit of English. Grandma nodded, and took out one of her talismans from her sleeves. "Stay still, little one." She attached it to Yugi, who was starting to sweat, on his forehead. Then suddenly we saw a faint glow from Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, and in Yugi's place stood Yami. He glanced at the talisman that was attached to him.

"Grandma!!" I scolded angrily at her. "What did you do to him??!!" I demanded furiously. Can't this day get any worse??

"A spirit living off a young boy." Grandma replied in English and she now ogled at Yami who was standing his grund. "You are not evil... I sense no evil in you."

"Well duh." I said lamely at her. "Yami's my friend - too." I was wondering what would happen if I said the word 'boyfriend'.

I looked at him as he took off the talisman. "This is my grandma, Yami. I'm sorry about her dragging you out like that." I apologised.

He shook his head. "No problem...." He sounded rather uncertain.

Grandma ogled him even closer, tapped at his head, inspected his features and I cringed. "Grandma, stop that!!" I said to her in Cantonese. She stopped, and smiled sweetly at me. "You got a fine spirit for a 'friend', Karidis – he is attractive!" She said to me in Hakka (She hadn't learned to say my name properly in English yet either). I cringed again, but Grandma didn't stop there. "You die in Egypt." She said in English. Yami looked fascinated.

"Grandma, he's the spirit of a former Pharaoh way back then." I replied.

"You die in Egypt, must be resurrected in Egypt." She said again as she pointed at him.

Yami blinked in surprise, and Yugi appeared beside him in spirit form, Grandma whooped. "I knew it, haha!" She said in English.

"Um... perhaps we should talk this over inside??" I suggested.

o

Grandma had come to visit from her vacation in Hawaii with Grandpa a couple of weeks ago. She didn't tell us about it because she wanted to give us a surprise – boy, was it sure a surprise. Mum and dad had gone to work and Callista had luckily gone home for lunch from University to find Grandma there, sitting on the doorstep patiently with a couple of suitcases beside her.

Callista glanced over at Yami and I occasionally as much as grandma did. She made me sit beside him on the couch, while Grandma jabbered away how she could help Yami move on. Callista winked at me, indicating that she knew that the person who I liked must be Yami.

I cursed at myself when I disappeared into the kitchen and she followed behind me.

"Gee, Charybdis, you really have got the right eye for the perfect guy. That Yugi is um.... Your type!" She said. "He seems a little different today though, I mean the last time I saw him was when you had invited all your friends over to hold some sort of special 'meeting' and I thought he was rather shy and timid, but now he's got this kind of – charisma and boyness inside him."

I gawked. "Boyness??"

"I mean manliness."

"Oh."

We both returned to our seats, to see Grandma giving Yami a 'check-up' and I screamed again when she was going to attach another talisman on him again. "Grandma stop!! You're going to hurt him!" I pulled Yami back behind me away from her. "I appreciate your help, dear Grandma, but it's not necessary." I added.

"Spirit needs to move on." She declared impatiently in English. "I help."

I glanced at Yami. "Do you want my Grandma to help you move into nirvana?" I whispered over. I think everything was happening to him at one time and he shook his head. "I need some time." I don't think he really trusted Grandma anyway – I didn't trust her either, to be honest.

"Grandma, leave Yami alone!! He needs some space, and you can't just help him move on, he has the right to live here – if he wants to." I said. He blinked back at me and I cringed.

"Very well. Come back when you decide move on." She replied in English to him.

I sweat dropped and smiled nervously. "Uh yes, I'll inform Yami, don't worry gran."

I grabbed Yami's hand and led him back outside. "I am so sorry for about my Grandma. She's a little, uh... on the paranormal side too much, but don't worry, she's nice when you get to know her properly." I cringed and I let go of his hand.

"Yes, I need to go back now. I'll see you soon, Charybdis." He smiled and let Yugi back into his body.

He waved to me and I waved back before going back into the house.

Nirvana.

I hadn't really thought if Yami wanted to go back home, with his other dead people – no offence to him or anything. What will I do then? What will happen to Yugi and Tea and the rest when they find out? What's going to happen to the Millennium Puzzle??

I was staring into oblivion to notice that Grandma had hopped over to me. She smiled at me, showing her false teeth and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry young one. I know you care for your friend."

"Thanks Grandma." I replied.

o

Mum and dad were baffled when they found Grandma sitting on the couch watching Cartoon Network with me. They were happy, and started to talk and do stuff that adults do when it's a family reunion. Callista had locked herself back upstairs so I decided to go upstairs to my room as well and leave Grandma to help mum around the kitchen or yell at dad.

Mum and dad didn't seem to know about my problem with Seto Kaiba – yet. Grandma sure didn't. Callista knew, and once I trotted to my room she unlocked my door and peeked in to see me lying on my rug looking at the ceiling blankly.

"Hey, I read about you and Seto Kaiba." She said as she leapt on my bed, and looked at me.

I groaned. "Please don't talk about it, everyone at school talks about me all the time. They make fun at me, Kaiba fans make horrible remarks about me in class, my best friend isn't talking to me, and the whole country should know by now."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Charybdis, but you got to stay strong, don't let a few horrid and offending acts let you down." Callista said worriedly.

I remembered when the paper ball landed in my desk and I read the horrible contents inside. I've never been called a 'bitch' before. That's it. Everyone must think I'm the biggest loser in the school. I am the biggest loser; I'm a fool. Seto Kaiba hates me, Joey detests me, but Yugi and Yami are still my friends. Tea is still my friend. Tristan is rather wary of me, Duke is still my friend. Ryou is, too. I buried my face in my hands and I felt terrified.

"What if this happens again tomorrow?" I asked meekly.

o

By the end of the whole week, it had gotten even worse. More girls were being horrible to me, and Joey had ignored me for the whole time. No one really spoke to me properly either; Yugi and Tea had either been pulled away by Joey when they tried to talk to me so I was left alone during interval and lunch. And what about Seto Kaiba? He didn't give a damn; no one even pestered him. I cursed as soon as I was cornered by a group of girls in one of my classes in an alleyway after school.

"So, are you enjoying all this attention Charybdis Hirota??" They said.

I shook my head. "Leave me alone, this is all a mistake." I couldn't believe that Seto Kaiba hadn't found the 'time' to announce that we weren't even a couple yet. One girl smirked sadistically at me. "You're even brave enough to say something back at us, and steal Seto away too."

"He doesn't even know you exist!" I barked.

The girls looked shocked, but at the same time they were looking extremely pissed and I bit my lip. "Just leave me alone! I never done anything to you!!" Anxiety was taking over me fast; I was sweating like mad and my stomach tightened. What HAVE I done to them anyway??

"Come on girls let's get her."

I screamed loudly, and immediately stepped back from them. My heart was pounding furiously now. What should I do?? What should I do??? I know I took defence classes but I was terrified of hitting a student. I could get suspended – or worse, expelled from school. I backed into the wall and crouched down, shivering uncontrollably, as they ganged up on me, and I closed my eyes shut, waiting for the first blow to come but it didn't.

"Be gone, evil spirit!!"

The girls stopped.

"AAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE!!!" A woman screeched.

I opened my eyes, and I could see a white and red thing float past me and ward the girls away. They stepped back again when grandma had taken out her talismans and other weird stuff for spirits that those girls looked puzzled by their appearance.

"This isn't over yet, Hirota!" one yelled when they ran away.

"Grandma???" I squeaked.

Grandma stopped in her tracks when she heard my voice and smiled at me. "Little girls afraid of me, hehe." She spoke in English. Grandma straightened down her priestess robes and helped me back onto my feet. I looked down and sniffed. A few tears had leaked down from my eyes and Grandma hugged me.

"Do not cry, little one." She said soothingly.

"Grandma... I was so scared back there. You won't be able to come and save me all the time." I wailed.

"But I was not saving you. I was patrolling areas of evil spirits and came across you." Grandma replied.

"What should I do now?? I can't tell the teachers this, people would call me a Grasser (a tattle tale)." I moaned as Grandma handed me a tissue and I blew into it.

"You need to calm down first." Grandma led me out from the alleyway and we walked side by side to our house. I suddenly stopped; when I saw Joey and the others walk a distance ahead of us. Grandma stopped as well and looked at them.

Joey spotted me and ignored me, then walked straight past me without even passing a glance. Yugi and Tea stopped in front of me. Grandma smiled.

"You spirit boy. I remember." She spoke and Tea raised an eyebrow.

"Um... this is my grandma, Tea." I said.

Tea smiled. "Nice to meet you, I'm Tea."

Grandma smiled back. "Tay – ya."

Tea sweat dropped but smiled back again. "Um... yes!"

We had a good 5 minutes of talking. I tried my best not to start crying but I was still shocked and upset. I sniffed all the way through and tried to keep my face straight, and I grinned at them cheerfully but it came out like a weak, watery smile and I put a thumbs up to indicate that I was okay. I could see from Yugi's expression that he could see that I was definitely NOT okay.


	14. The Boring but Eventful Date with Yami

Damn, I keep forgetting to put disclaimers! 

**I do not own Yu-Gi-Oooooh!! There ya go!**

Note: I've deleted my other story **sobs**! I want to concentrate on Cosmopolitan Girl for a while because I want it finished straight on before Christmas – if I can, that is!

ShadowDreamerX: I'm not very fond of character bashing as well, if someone doesn't like a character, keep it to themselves and everything will be hunky-dory (my personal opinion)

muse of the stars:Well, I think you got your request!

x-daydreamer-xThanks for reviewing; more kawaii stuff will happen soon, I promise!

Faith: I read your profile. Yikes! Don't hate Charybdis, lol!

Chibi Blue Angel, princess kitty zeldas child, moombaforce, RyokoRin16, Princess Vashti, Laura, darkmagiciangrl123, Sylvia Viridian, legansimay and Yami Fan Girl:

All a million THANK YOUS for all of you for reviewing! I really appreciate your support, at first when I typed in Cosmopolitan Girl; I was terrified if I won't get any readers because I thought (Still does) my story sucked – a lot. I think it was really badly written, with typing errors and stupid spelling mistakes because I type too fast on the keyboard!

And no, it's not finished yet if you're wondering why I'm thanking people like as if I just won a Beauty Pageant, lol; I just wanted to put a author's thank you note up! Hee hee!

The past few chapters were actually reflecting on depressing stuff a teenager has to cope with. See, Charybdis had just had an argument with Joey and lost her best friend, her annoying but 'cool' grandma had arrived just when reporters had put her up as Seto Kaiba's girlfriend, and her parent's don't know – yet.

**Chapter 14 **

**The Boring but Wonderfully Weird Date with Yami**

Yugi walked home with me the next day at school, I was relieved; those girls were still out there waiting for me. I was always alone during interval and lunchtime, so I took this opportunity to stay put in the classroom, and tried my best to ignore more paper balls, flying paper aeroplanes that got stuck in my hair and name chanting during class time. The teacher didn't anything to stop it either. School had started to become like hell, and I was in hell for 3 weeks.

"Are you doing anything this Saturday??" Yugi asked me.

I was looking down at my skates as we walked home. I shook my head without thinking, but replied absentmindedly. ".... I'd be at home with a paper bag over my head."

Yugi looked worriedly at me, and glanced down at his Millennium Puzzle. "I was wondering if you weren't busy, that you could come with me and Yami to the Duel Monster Exhibit in the Museum, it's on this Saturday at 3pm and I – "

I froze. "Are you asking me on a d – "

SMACK!

I crashed into the lamppost in front of me and bounded backwards onto the ground. "Date..." I finished quietly. He didn't seem to hear and helped me back up. "You're always worked up nowadays, I figured you could use a day out – um...." He grew slightly red. "Well, do you want to come?"

"Is Joey going?" I mumbled.

Yugi shook his head. "I didn't ask anyone else apart from you."

"Well... uh... yeah, I'll come, this Saturday, is it??"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Yugi was waiting for me downstairs patiently that Saturday. He had come early and I wasn't even ready yet. I asked Grandma and Callista to stall for the moment, and before I ran all the way upstairs to my bedroom, Grandma pretended that she wanted to experiment on him for a while and she dragged Yami out. "Oh, this was not to happen!" Grandma lied.

Darn, Grandma's a pretty good actress.

I rummaged my way through heaps and heaps of clothes, trying to figure what to wear. I fished out a strap top – no, that reveals too much and I flung it back into the pile. I took out a tracksuit top. No! That makes me look quite chubby. I flung it back and then found the same top Callista made me wear a few weeks ago when she gave me a makeover. I was sure it had shrunk over the days....

I threw it over my head and struggled to pull it down. God... I'm not getting fat, now am I?? I heaved, panted and wheezed, and then I finally got it past my shoulders after a couple of minutes of wrestling with a piece of fabric. It had shrunk, a lot in size indeed. It looked as if I was wearing a sports bra! I quickly took my zipper top and put it on, then zipped it up to my collar and dashed back down the stairs. There, still waltzing around the sofa was Grandma who was now performing a spirit ritual with her mask on.

"Grandma!!" I hissed at her in Cantonese, and pulled Yami from the couch back beside me. "Leave him alone!"

Grandma stopped moving and took off her mask. "I was only trying to help you stall for time." She replied in Hakka as she shrugged her shoulders.

"There's no need anymore, I'm done, so if you will excuse, me and Yami have a date – er... a meeting to... attend." I said back to her in Cantonese. God, if Yami found out what I was saying, I'd never let it down.

Grandma shrugged again. "You two have fun in your date." She said, in English.

I burned to the ground whilst Yami looked at my tomato coloured face in confusion. Clearing my throat, I waved to them and hopped outside from the front door and went to open the gates.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

What was that thing??

I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the stone tablet that was the main tourist attraction in Domino Museum. It was a rather dirty brown colour, with funny figures standing opposite each other near the bottom of the tablet with their hands out to each other. I cocked my head to the side and peered closely at the one on the right. To avoid attention in case people recognized me from the papers, I had placed on a baseball cap, tied my hair into bunches and put on dark sunglasses.

Yugi was watching me leer at it, with Yami standing beside him in spirit form watching me too while I tried to find the resemblance of Yami who was supposedly to be on it. I turned back to them. "I don't get it, you said that one of the figures here was Yami when he was a Pharaoh, but I don't see anything."

"Look closer." Yugi said.

And I did.

My nose almost touched the glass but I luckily moved back before I slammed into it. "This one??" I pointed to one of the figures. Yugi rolled his eyes and I slumped down in shame. Yami walked over and pointed to the one beside me.

The figure had funny hair, styled in the way like Yugi's... and Yami's. I slapped my forehead hard. How could I have been so stupid??? I laughed nervously. Guess Joey was right; I do need my eyes tested...

I think I needed, really. I slammed into several people on the way around in the exhibit, tripped over some stands where some models were and I had to squint my eyes to see where Yugi was if we got separated. I grovelled around the floor through crowds of people helplessly when I dropped my purse and several coins rolled out. Yugi found some, and I was left trying to find some other ones I had missed. I spotted a10 pence and grabbed it then stood back up.

"There we go, all here!" I said when I walked back over to Yugi, holding it in my fingers. "Do you want to eat something Yugi?"

No reply.

"Yugi??"

Still no reply.

"Eh??" I cocked my head again. "Is something wrong, Yugi?"

"Charybdis, I'm over here."

I turned round. "Yugi??"

A blurry short image popped in front of me. "Yugi, what are you doing there?? I thou – "I turned back to the 'assumed' Yugi. My blurry eye vision gave way and I noticed that I was talking to a dummy of some dead man (no offence to him lol). I cringed. My eyesight wasn't that bad, how could I have mistaken that 'thing' for Yugi??!! This was getting weirder and weirder by the minute...

"Oh yeah, I found my ten pence." I said, as I stuffed it back into my purse.

Yugi peered at it before it disappeared inside the denim – coated purse. "Charybdis, that's not a ten pence."

"Nani (What??)??" I asked. I fished it out again.

"It's a silver bottle lid."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Yami swapped over during the rest of the exhibit and I followed behind him meekly as he examined some more stuff from Ancient Egypt, I had the feeling that Yami's past as the Pharaoh was beginning to get into his head. I watched him talking with the curator of the Museum a distance away and looked down at the floor, waiting for their unusually long conversation to finish. I leaned on the wall and fiddled with my top for a while. This stupid crush of mine was going to wreck my life. Yami's my good friend, if he doesn't like me then I'm just wasting myself, I won't even stand a chance of being with him anyway since he hadn't showed any signs that he liked me, so why not just shrug it off and act normal in front of him as a friend – just a friend.

I closed my eyes shut when they started to droop down pathetically.

...........A fly drones by...........

...Zzzz....

"Hey is that a new model on show??" I was rudely woken up by someone's finger jabbing me at the side. I opened my eyes and blinked, then looked down at the 7-year-old boy who was giggling and poking me with his stubby, short finger. "Hehe, the dummy's soft!" I growled at him and he looked up. "That's weird, I thought its eyes were closed before..." he continued jabbing at me. "Stop that kid." I barked at him and he ran off, screaming loudly. "Mummy!! The dummy's alive!!"

I hadn't noticed Yami had come back over because I had concentrated on going back to sleep. I was sitting down, huddling my knees to my chest with my head on my arms. He tapped me slightly and I mumbled. "Five more minutes please..."

"Wake up, the exhibit's closing...."

I groaned, yawned loudly as I stretched my arms and stood back up facing him groggily. "Are we going now??" I yawned tiredly while I swayed back and forth on the ground. "Did you learn anything interesting??" I asked.

Sadly, he shook his head, and frowned, and then I did too. I felt bad. "Well, at least we had a nice day out.... I suppose."

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

I couldn't help yawning on the way home. I guess it was because of the lack of sleep I haven't had the past days, or maybe it was because I'd actually had a BORING day with Yami and Yugi. I believed that it might get interesting but fate proved me wrong. I wondered whether Yami had more fun when he went on the date with Tea... I shook my head, hard, to snap myself out. I couldn't back down now! I'd just have to try and make our journey home – unboring – if that's even a word...

My wish was fulfilled when hands from the dark alleyway where I was just walking past shot out and dragged me back inside quickly and quietly that I actually felt my feet off the ground. Wow, I had thought at that time, this is going to be so cool!! I tried to scream when three men who had dragged me inside the darkness but couldn't when they stuffed my mouth with their horrible hankies. My sunglasses fell off and onto the ground. This is the type of scene when the pretty girl gets kidnapped and then the hunky guy saves her in a dramatic way.

I stared at the opening of the alleyway. Okay Yami, you can come in now!!

Nothing.

Y-Yami??

He didn't come.

Now I panicked.

They pinned me to the wall as I kicked and huffed angrily, trying to get free but failed miserably and I began crying – hard. "Shut up, girl, hand over all your money and possessions and we won't harm you." One man said. He had something shiny in his hand; it gleamed in the sunlight that instantly indicated to me what it was.

A knife.

I panicked even more.

Don't take my necklace!! I beg you!! It's Callista's!! She's going to be mad!! The man reached out for my necklace and then I snapped. Anger ran inside me, and I pushed him away with all my might. The other two men stepped back when I landed on the floor on my feet. I could feel a surge of energy flow through me.

"Don't you dare threaten me!!" I barked at them loudly as I stood my ground, getting into a fighting stance.

"Hey, isn't she Seto Kaiba's girlfriend??"

I cringed. "I'm not!!!!"

"Get her! If we hold her hostage, Seto Kaiba might meet our demands!!"

I ducked under one man and back flipped (I'm not sure if this is the right term, but you get the message, right?) him onto the ground, and then punched the man in the face who was about to hit me next. "That's for ruining my date!!" I shouted as he doubled over.

I kicked the other thug in the stomach. "That's for taking me away from my boyfriend – er.. My friend!!" I thought they would get the message and run away, but they didn't, and came back up even angrier. Okay, now was the time to run.

I stumbled past the bins and pushed discarded boxes away from me as I ran away. I saw two paths ahead, okay.. .which one should I choose?? Eenie meenie miny mo, catch a farmer on the roe, it dit dot dit, you are not it! I chose right, and then darted into the left. (I know that stupid poem doesn't make any sense, but bear with me, alright?)

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

It wasn't a dead end, but the way back to the thugs. I'd been running around in a circle!! I looked down with a sweatdrop, I have failed....

Okay, it's three against one. How many could I take on with my amazingly weak but skilled defence moves?? One. I aimed for the guy holding a knife and I kicked his hand when he tried to punch me with his free hand. The knife went flying, all the way to the opening of the alley where a shadow was blocking some light. A shadow with familiar funny hair that stuck out at odd angles and glowing amethyst eyes; but that wasn't the only thing glowing in the darkness, something was on his forehead. A sort of eye symbol similar to the one on the puzzle that hung around his neck. A third eye.

Finally, he came!

I got ready to swoon and dropped my guard by accident, resulting in another man slamming me back to the wall. "Eek....." I whimpered. The man grinned at Yami who had stepped in. "Stand back or the girl gets it."

I gulped. Gets what??

The man took out another knife and put it beside my cheek, the blade almost touched my skin and I tried to kick him away – not the smartest thing to do and I got my hand cut. It wasn't very deep but it was long and bleeding badly, right across my right palm and I started to howl. The man grabbed me again quickly while I tried to break free.

"Let her go!!" Yami demanded, and then something funny happened, I couldn't explain it, but it was bizarre and wonderful at the same time. His Millennium Puzzle began glowing brightly, and then it grew brighter and brighter, until I had to shield my eyes to avoid being bedazzled. The next thing I knew I was flat faced on the ground. I pushed myself back up, wincing badly since the cut hurt terribly. I looked around, where were the men?? They had vanished. The knife with my blood lay on the floor beside me untouched. I gasped a little.

Yami ran to my aid and sat down beside me. "Are you okay?" He asked me worriedly. I nodded slowly, starting to cry a little. He held my bleeding palm gently, and then took off his blue jacket and managed to shred a strip off. I gawked. I can't even pull a piece of paper towel out!! My heart began beating hard – he was holding my hand....

He carefully wrapped the strip around my bleeding palm, and tied it securely. I sniffed.

"You were very brave, standing up to those thieves." Yami said reassuringly when he finished tying it into a tiny bow. He didn't let go of my hand yet but I was glad. I looked down.

"Yeah... but I didn't do much. I got hurt, are you alright?" I asked timidly, avoiding his purple piercing stare by picking my sunglasses up and propping them back on over my eyes.

"I'm fine, thank you. You should apply some medication to that, or it will get infected."

I rubbed my eyes and stood up as he let go of my hand. "It hurts... but hey, I'll probably get off doing school work."

He chuckled and I smiled a little. "Come on, let's get of here." He said, and led me back outside gently, hoping not to hurt my hand when he held it – again. My lip quivered. What happened back in the alley??

"What... happened to those thugs?" I asked.

"I sent them to the Shadow Realm, I couldn't bear seeing my friend get hurt." He replied impassively.

I gulped secretly.

Okay!!!

I confess!! I can't stop myself falling at Yami's feet – even if he does scare me sometimes!!! I could tell that he was angry, judging by the way he was trying his best not to show it out; his eyes narrowed dangerously and tightly I thought I could see lines over his face, and I could see his usual curved smirk into an upside down frown.... I almost melted to the ground again and I gazed at his back lovingly. God.... Maybe I should try to confess to HIM, instead of secretly admiring him all the time like a weirdo.

"Why are you looking at me like that??"

His deep voice penetrated my thoughts and the pink, dreamy and starry atmosphere burst from my mind and I found Yami staring at me intently as if I had gone into a trance. I looked back at him and cringed. "Uh... ... you – um... "

"Have I got something on my face?"

I shook my head quickly. "No, it's um.... Yami... I uh... got something to tell you..."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hey y'all. The stunt Yami just pulled was supposed to be his Mind Crush technique but I haven't seen him actually use it before so I decided to try and imagine it, I hope it's not TOO bad, and my dull country doesn't have any manga so I have to make do with the English anime and buying manga off the internet but it takes ages for deliveries!

Oh yeah, Charybdis didn't rescue herself, in case this act is part of a Mary Sue!

MUUUUUUHAAAAAAHAAAAAAAHAAAAAAAAA I stopped it at a cliffhanger which will all leave you screaming at me and ducking pelted pieces of fruit to update haha! Ahem, soz about that, I'll update soon, just stay tuned!


	15. Apple Peeled, All is Revealed

Hi readers! I want you to tell you that Charybdis will have a Yami in the next few chapters soon. I'm not sure if I should write that she also gets it from a Millennium item, but I had to write this because she would have to have a connection with Ancient Egypt (or else why would I write this story).

Thanks for every1 who reviewed! Thanks klb101 for adding me to your c2 archives! So, here you go, the chapter you have all been waiting for!

**Chapter 15**

**Apple is peeled, all is revealed!**

Yami watched me as we sat side by side on the park bench; I was stammering most of my words and he was listening on with his arms crossed. It was about half six now, the sun was setting over the horizon so this was the perfect time to confess, right?? Not. It was the time when the once deserted park became the busiest of times. It was starting to get cold too. I glanced uneasily away from me and at little kids playing in the cheese box. Then I turned back to Yami. I didn't want to stall for time in case he thought I was.

I scratched my neck, tugged at my collar of my top and squirmed in my seat uncomfortably. God, why did this have to happen to me all the time?? I could feel my heart rising dramatically high and my head began throbbing wildly. Okay, I inhaled and exhaled; it's time to confess!!

"Um… I…seem to have… developed….a - a - a… You…." I babbled out quickly.

He blinked and shifted a little but didn't stop his averting gaze away from me. "I'm sorry, I didn't really catch that."

I slapped myself hard mentally. "Uh, let me rephrase that…." I replied, looking back away and moving my legs a little.

This was it.

"I… li – A-A-Atchoo!!!"

I stopped, realising that I had practically sneezed in front of his face and I shrank back, cringing like mad. My face went bright red, and he noticed. Oh the shame!!

"Are you alright?" he asked gently as he unfolded his arms and put his hand on my shoulder. "Your face is red."

I put my hands over my cheeks, my eyes widened under my sunglasses which had I had thankfully put on and my mouth turned into a tiny 'o' shape. I didn't dare look at him and concentrated on the ground. I laughed nervously. "Um… I think I'd better be going now, err…. I had a nice a nice day today, thank y-y-you….see – see you later. … ja ne!"

And then I stood up from my seat quickly before he could say anything and ran blindly away out. Almost smacking into a lamppost again but I changed my route quickly before I slammed into it to prevent another injury. This is getting crazier and harder by the minute. I've decided in my mind, that I'd have to avoid Yami from now on, as best as possible. I don't want to see him again; I don't want to feel all stupid and fluttery all the time. I don't want to act like a total doofus in front of him. It'll make everything worse.

But then I stopped. Why??

I had forgotten my bag, which was on the seat. I cursed myself and then turned back round, marching back, but then I stopped again. Yugi had floated out, and was talking with Yami. Not sure whether if I should go over or not, I decided to return back later and walked back out. However my weakest point, the eavesdropping ear, decided to pop out and I found myself leaning behind the fence, behind Yami's bench and listened closely.

"Yugi, is something the matter?" I heard Yami ask.

I was sitting under where the fence was, and had a very good listen…

"She forgot her bag, honestly, Charybdis can be a little clumsy sometimes. I'll return this to her on Monday." I heard Yugi reply back.

I didn't feel offended and listened on.

"What do you think of her??"

I froze as soon as I heard what Yugi just said, and then had the urge to move away as far as possible because I didn't want to hear the answer, positive or negative – whatever!! I've got too many problems to handle at once! I stayed rooted on my bum on the spot reluctantly and I persuaded myself to listen.

"Who, Charybdis??" Yami asked.

"Yeah."

There was a short pause and my face burned badly I wanted an extinguisher to cool it down. Come on, out with it Yami!

"…. I like her."

Immediately I had pictured Yugi giggling insanely and teasing at Yami about his answer, but in reality, he didn't.

"Y-You do???"

I gawked.

"Yes."

"What way? Do you like her – as in not just a friend??"

"I'm not very sure myself."

"Is that a yes though?"

"…. Probably.." there was another pause. "… I suppose."

"Charybdis is a nice girl, she's weird but funny and kind. You're lucky that you like her!" Yugi chirped cheerfully and somehow I wanted to wring his neck.

"…. I know. Why did you ask in the first place anyway?"

"I've noticed her reactions to us lately – or actually, you."

I froze. OH NO, OH NO!! DON'T TELL HIM, IF YOU DO KNOW, YUGI!!! Luckily I had a tissue stuffed into my pocket so I could take out my anger on it instead. I wanted a punching bag right now!!

"She clearly likes you."

I twisted the tissue hard.

I almost blew up into ashes and had a heart attack. Yugi, why did you have to say that?! You're so dead meat at School!!!!

"….. She does? How can you tell, Yugi?"

"You don't really understand a lot of girls, don't you, Yami?" Yugi laughed. "I've seen her trying to act straight with you."

I ripped the tissue up roughly.

"She always grows red when you appear."

I tore the tissue parts into little tiny confetti pieces.

"….. " I could tell that Yami was speechless. "What about you and Tea?"

"How'd you know??" Yugi asked surprisingly.

"It was obvious."

"Oh… Umm… well, it's sort of like that, the feeling I get when I'm with Tea, get that?"

"I suppose so."

"Good…. Charybdis cares for you too."

I stuffed the tissue into my mouth, then spat it back out when I just noticed what I had just done. Feeling confused, I didn't want to find out the answer. I didn't want to know, not now anyway. I wouldn't take it if he said that he didn't like me either. I'd rather find out if we were alone somewhere. Standing back up, with tears coming down my eyes for some unknown reason, I ran back, not caring whether they saw me or not.

I got my bag back the next day.

School wasn't really improving either, some idiot had deliberately gotten me into trouble by passing around notes to me during English class, and when I had a look the teacher caught me – a lot of times no matter how hard I protested. This is what the note said:

_Hey, have you two ever kissed before??_

I had landed myself into a detention, not only but a detention, but an embarrassing way of getting a detention when the teacher snorted to me that just because I was Seto Kaiba's girlfriend didn't mean that I was to share my stories around the class. She had a read at the note, and I felt my cheeks burning. I had to stay behind after the bell rang to clean the table and chairs. I was so lucky that no one I really knew well were in that class.

Oh well, it couldn't get any worse.

I spoke too soon.

When the bell rang and I trudged into the classroom where Cleanup Duty was, I froze. There he was, Joey. I wanted to almost run away but he spotted me quickly gawking at him with my jaw wide open and my eyes wide, so I had stood rooted on the spot. He passed me a small glance, before starting to scrub measly at a desk with a cloth after squirting some aerosol on the surface. I gripped my bucket of water and cloth in my hand tightly and stomped over to a desk opposite him clumsily. I dropped my bucket on the table, dunked the cloth inside and then lifted it back up, squeezing excessive water out. Then I scrubbed, hard and soon I had finished within minutes. Joey was already proceeding to his second desk. I glared angrily at him and then I concentrated on another desk.

We were soon having a small competition of who cleaned a desk first, I've been keeping track of the score, Joey was ahead of me 5 tables; it's not my fault I double check to see if they are squeaky clean and rid of marks while Joey just scrubs and moves away! I huffed a little and threw my cloth over at him when he wasn't looking and it landed unfortunately just a distance behind him. It was starting to become annoying. Joey never said anything to e, so I decided to say something to him first; I walked over to him, still carrying the bucket, but the cloth?? Oh, it was on the floor where I had threw it a few minutes…

AND WHERE I WAS GOING TO STEP ON IT!!!

I yelped when I placed my foot down and skidded, it went forward and I fell down, almost on top of Joey where he was and he turned around just in the nick of time and I fell on top of him. We both crashed down on the floor.

"…. You okay?" I heard him mumble.

I froze. "I'm not…. "

I got up and sat beside him when he sat beside me. "I'm not okay!!!!!" And then, somehow all my emotions of anger, sadness, worry, loneliness and stress flowed through me and I began bawling. "I'm a wreck without you, Joey!!!!" I cried out in a hoarse tone and I gestured my hands at him. "I'm so sorry I shouted at you!!!!! I've never been friends with anyone like you before, Joey!!! I hope you can forgive me!!!!"

Joey blinked. "G-Gurlie??"

I continued speaking non-stop. "I'm not Kaiba's girlfriend!! Why don't you believe me??? Why won't you believe me????? I can't stand this anymore!!!! It's so hard seeing you ignore me!!! It's my entire fault!!! I don't want this to drag along and along and along and along and along and along – "

"Okay, okay, I get yer point!!" He quickly interrupted in. "I… guess I needa to apologise to ya too. I shouldn't have shouted at ya like that too. Mai talked some sense into me a few days ago and Tea clouted me in the ear; I should be the one asking for yer forgiveness, Gurlie. I'm sorry." He looked down at he floor and fiddled withthe buttons on his uniform. "Can ya ever forgive me for acting like a total jerk to ya?"

I sniffed. "Of course!!" And I smiled, before leaping over to him and wrapping my arms around him (friendly way). I dug my head into his chest, half crying with happiness and sadness. He put his arms around me gently and we stayed like that for a couple of minutes, before I let go.

"I'm sorry, I'm making your shirt front all wet." I giggled.

"Come one then, we still have to finish all these tables, and when I'm finished, I'm going to leave, you've still got to catch up with me." He said, smiling back at me.

"You were counting the score too?"

"Yeah, now hurry up."

"Hai (yes)!" I replied happily.

Yay! It was almost as if all my troubles were over, I had made up with my best friend and I got my title back – yes, it wasn't as dramatic as I'd thought it was. Seto Kaiba had just given an interview to the newspapers and magazines without my presence and knowing in Kaiba Corp, luckily, and said that we had an official break-up. News spread around wildfire, and students were asking me if I was okay, and even handed me several gifts. No Seto Kaiba fans went up to me either after that. I felt regretful; I should've punched them when I had the chance! I only got a few days trouble, before the rumours and whispers stopped abruptly. I felt quite bad for Mokie, I really wanted to see him again, it wasn't his fault he had an arrogant, pig headed jerk for a big brother who only thinks for himself, I had to admit it though, Seto Kaiba did care for Mokie – in a way. Heck, I didn't really care about Kaiba anymore, I was concentrating hard on my studies, I had a couple of exams coming up, the prelims and since I've been hung up with stress, I haven't studied in days!!

My friends were supportive all the way. I hang with them now, before school, interval, class time, lunchtime and after school. They've all forgiven me, but also asked me for their forgiveness. Of course I smiled and said that I had already forgiven them. And we were once thrown back into the times before when we were all just a group of students who loved nothing more than talking and giving cheek to teachers and monkeying around like idiots (actually Joey, Tristan and I do that mostly). The engagement of 'Avoiding Yami' plan was initiated again; I tried to avoid Yugi but failed miserably and sometimes had a chat with Yami at home time, before I'd make up some pathetic excuse like:

"I gotta feed my fish, uh.. bye!"

Or:

"I think I can hear Mum shouting at me because I'm late, gotta go!"

And I don't even have fish at home since they've all died and I can't even hear mum shouting at me since my ears are all waxy etc (yuck). Talking about home, mum and dad found out and waved the magazine about our 'break-up' in front of me. "When did Seto Kaiba become your boyfriend??? Why didn't you tell us??" dad asked worriedly. I looked at the ground. Mum and dad were sitting on the black leather sofa side by side, which obviously meant that I was either A) In Trouble or B) Getting a boring lecture off dad. They stared back at me when I squeaked a reply. "I wasn't even his girlfriend….."

Thankfully Callista and Grandma came down and bailed me out by persuading them for roughly 20 minutes that Seto Kaiba and I were not even related, never was, never will. Grandma cried out though when she accompanied back upstairs with Callista.

"Aiiiieee!! If you were the girlfriend of a millionaire, you could get your whole family rich!!!" She said.

Callista and I sweat dropped. "Love doesn't work that way, Grandma." I replied.

"When you do find the right boy, you better show him to your parents first." Grandma said. "What about you and Yami?"

Callista paused. "Who's Yami?"

Great. Another introduction and I was forced to tell her everything.

Callista almost toppled over her plant pot in her room from where she stood facing me when I told her. "The guy you like is dead?? That's so- so –"

I braced for the teasing.

"So – funny, I suppose…. But at least you found out that he had some feelings for you." Somehow I got the feeling that she wasn't feeling very 'happy' for me. She eyed my funnily all the way through our long discussion.

Grandma sat up from her bed and replied back, "That is correct, in order to be with Yami, you must give him a new body." I looked over at her from the chair of Callista's desk and swivelled it around to face them all. "Can't you do that??"

She shook her head. "He die in Egypt must be resurrected in Egypt."

A few days later……

This is boring. I am currently sitting in the glass cage where I am held hostage in the Shadow Realm, watching the two guys who are facing opposite each other. One is fighting for my freedom while the other is fighting just to get rid of him and to steal the Millennium Puzzle off his opponent who seems to be… dare I say it? Losing.

How did I get here?? Well, I'll tell you the story, it only happened 30 minutes ago anyway.

_I was at school, in the girl's bathroom during interval washing my hands with a bar of soap after Joey chibbed my hands and even my cheeks with his biro pen deliberately during class when the teacher went away to get some new jotters or something. Then when I looked back up at the mirror, guess who I saw?_

_Bakura. _

_Instantly I had held my guard up. "What do you want?" I said._

"_Well, well, well. What do we have here…" He said._

_I paused. Oh great, he's going to do something to do, something bad, I had thought… Boy, was I right?_

"_The Pharaoh's precious little treasure." He looked at me. _

"_What do you mean by that?" I said as he walked closer to me. _

"_The Pharaoh has a connection with you, mortal. I can sense it within you. I can decipher your thoughts and emotions." _

"_You can???" I mumbled nervously, taking a step back – until I realized that back stepping always lead me to trouble I stepped to the side. But that didn't really work out either when he cornered me – almost. He stood about a metre away from me. _

"_How about it if I put you out of your misery, mortal? You've been nothing but an annoying nuisance to me over the days. I've been in no step closer in succeeding of getting the millennium item off the pharaoh, so I think I'll use you as bait."_

_My muscles worked again, and I was about to run when my body felt paralysed again. I swallowed. "W-What did you do to me???" I asked as I struggled feebly. My feet felt numb and my arms were feeling stiff as board. A faint glow was emitting from my body and I couldn't even blink, making my eyes water painfully. _

_The Millennium Ring glowed again, and the points hanging down faced me and then suddenly I could feel me drifting out, but I wasn't moving, something inside me was being sucked into some kind of dimension. I screamed, tried to break free but it was too strong and I couldn't do anything. I could only hear his maniacal laughter in the distance, before I finally blacked out. _

And so here I am half praying for mercy and half screaming for help. Bakura still had about 2500 life points, the duel had started and Yami/Yugi had 1800 life points. I guessed that I needed to put some faith into them and cheer them on, but I wasn't like those kinds of people who could just scream "GO YUGI!" or "GO YAMI!" Besides, I just had a very bad experience with Yami a few minutes before. Okay, I'll also tell what had happened.

Bakura had locked me up in a pyramid shaped cage made out of glass with no bars and tiny little breathing holes at the each edge, the cage I was in looked like a hourglass, it used to have this card slotted at the top to keep the contents in the pyramid above me from coming down, but now he's taken it out and the stuff that falls down are all my weaknesses and bad points – unfortunately for him, his plan didn't go that well as he had expected.

What he DID expect, you see, was that I was afraid of spiders, snakes and scorpions etc but when he took out the card, what **did** fall down over me that was supposed to be torture???

"_AAARRRGGGHHHH!!!! Apples!!!" I had screamed when one of theround, red fruit had hit my head and had began falling down over me from the gap at the top of my cage._

"_WHAT??!! This incompetent mortal is afraid of a food???" Bakura had gawked at when he saw the non-stop falling of apples pelting down and I screamed. _

"_NOOOO!! Apples…. Too nutritious… and healthy… their qualities are… destroying my love for junk food!!!!" I sobbed and I ran around in circles helplessly with my arms thrown in the air. _(1)

(1) A/N - This may not make sense, but one of Charybdis' weak points is healthy food! She likes to eat junk food, so the apple is something that will tempt her away from junk food, get it?

_I stopped running when the apples had just littered the ground and I thumped hard on the glass from where I could see Bakura – his pale skin and white hair stood out from the dark purplish atmosphere of the Shadow Realm._

"_NOOO!! No more!!!" I screamed at him, but then he had laughed and suddenly a bright light had flashed and there stood a figure that looked very familiar. I had the feeling of déjà vu when Yami stepped in, with his eye symbol glowing on his forehead. He gave me a sideways glance before looking directly at Bakura. _

"_What do you want with Charybdis?" He demanded furiously and I cursed. _

_Why did he always have to make a scene here?? I wondered whether if **he** stalked me or not. Suddenly a feeling of mixed quotes that were itching to get out of my mouth were 'hurray, he's here!' and 'Oh no! What is he doing here?' Instead, I had decided to keep my mouth shut and I stood away from the glass and sat back down after clearing a space of apples. _

"_How nice of you to join us, Pharaoh." Bakura had growled._

_And blah, blah, blah. They just threw each other a few insults which made me wanna go to sleep since I wanted to get saved, not listen to them both converse with each other before Bakura had decided to give me another torture thing. I braced for what was going to come up next. Yami seemed alerted as well, and suddenly from the corner of my eye;_

_POOF!_

_Yami had been split from Yugi's body and appeared beside me, flesh and blood in the glass cage and I shrieked. _

"_What???? The girl is afraid of the Pharaoh????" Bakura barked roughly. _

_Yugi swayed a little on the spot, starting to sweat and cough because the shadows were already consuming his little body, and Yami thumped on the glass. "Bakura!! I do not know what you have just done, but – "_

_Bakura ignored him and began to laugh maniacally. Yami turned to me and I shrank back instantly, avoiding eye contact. God, this cage really is torture for me!! Bakura had ransacked my deepest and darkest fears of all time; and now I finally have to pay the price!!_

"_Charybdis, are you really… afraid of me??" Yami asked me questioningly, his face had a mixture of worry and seriousness in it that made me feel even more anxious. _

_My back was sweating, my hands were cold and clammy that I was going to start to get blisters if I didn't wipe it off with my school uniform, and my fringe was clinging onto my forehead. I gulped, croaked, wheezed until I finally managed to get my answer out. "No." I squeaked meekly. _

_We both waited for something to happen. Nothing did. Yami knew that I was lying. "Charybdis, you must trust me and tell, or Yugi will suffer!!" _

_I looked back at Yugi who had gotten on all fours and was in a coughing fit. "Yami…. Where did you go?" I heard him croak out. _

_I stammered. "But – But – "_

"_Charybdis!"_

"_I – I – I –" I stuttered again. Could I really be that selfish and let Yugi suffer just because I didn't want to blab out my secret - I'm not sure, but since Yami is here it also makes me get even more tense, should I really confess, or not?? Bakura was still laughing as if he had won already, and Yami didn't even switch his gaze off me so I squeezed my eyes shut as if this was all a terrible dream. Yes! That was what it was, a dream - no, a nightmare, this whole dimension is made up! I pinched my cheeks and it hurt. I gasped. It IS real!!!! Everything was happening at once, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know what was the best to do. Then it came. It was better to get a huge load of pressure off my back, the pressure I had been carrying around for months now. _

"_Okay! Okay! I'll tell you…." I said, now regretting it already. _

_Yami watched me as I took a deep breath; the apples had started coming back and were raining down on us that we both had to duck for cover._

_It is time, I thought!_

"_I like you, Yami!" I screamed out, and instantly I threw my hands over my head and closed my eyes for some more impact. _

_Yami blinked as I opened one eye. He was still there! My fear, no weak point still hadn't been gotten rid of yet!_

"_I li – no, I…. love you, Yami…." I said quietly. _


	16. Plan of Evil, stuck in hell's torture

**Chapter 16**

**Plan of Evil! Stuck in Hell's Torture**

Continued from the last chapter…

_It is time, I thought!_

"_I like you, Yami!" I screamed out, and instantly I threw my hands over my head and closed my eyes for some more impact. _

_Yami blinked as I opened one eye. He was still there! My fear, no weak point still hadn't been gotten rid of yet!_

"_I li – no, I…. love you, Yami…." I said quietly. _

ooooooooooooo

I had waited for Yami's reaction to me, he only blinked, his mouth opened to say something but he didn't say anything, and he was still in the cage with me, so that meant that I was hiding some more that was forbidden to tell.

"I… I like you a lot. All this time I just didn't know how to say to it to you, because I was terrified that you might reject me since I've only really met you just a few weeks ago, and – and I thought it would be better if we stayed friends, but I was wrong. You always made me feel all stupid when I see you, I can't talk properly to you, let alone breathe!!" I said helplessly.

Yami listened on intently.

"It's – It's torturing me!! (Bakura laughed again and I ignored him) I can't stop myself from fancying you like mad – I even admit it!!! I don't want Yugi to suffer because I care, I'm not selfish enough to keep it to myself and let us all suffer in this place, just please…. I want to – I just want to live a normal life, I don't want this to happen, I don't want you and Yugi to get hurt because of me!! I'm only 16 years old!!! My sister finds it weird that I love someone who's dead!! I'm just a girl, an average girl who transferred to Domino from Hong Kong and live with her family, has nice friends and just loves to daydream and play duel monsters!!" Apparently I was babbling out all my emotions and the torture that I wasn't sure if it made sense at all.

I was breathless after saying that, I couldn't help the waterworks coming and they made my face look like a car windscreen when splashed with water, only worse since I was hiccupping and snorting at the same time. Yami was speechless. "Charybdis…. I had no idea you felt that way towards me…." He murmured quietly. "It isn't your fault."

"Then why am I stuck here??? You didn't have to come in the first place!! Bakura knew that I was important to you and deliberately held me hostage, still is, but you can save us! You always save us – me, so I want to return the favour!" I froze, I _was_ important to Yami all along. I was just too stupid to notice. Eventually I had felt a teensy amount of pressure leave my body. Yugi seemed to be dizzy than ever and I was wondering what was going to happen now.

"Is this all true?"

I nodded solemnly, with my eyes closed shut and I huddled up into a ball, hoping that this would do the trick and it did. Yami 'poofed' back out again and stood in Yugi's place. Bakura was facing him with his duel disk out and challenged Yami to a duel for my freedom, if Yami lost then I was sent to the Shadows, and Yami's Millennium Puzzle would be his. If Bakura lost, he would be sent to the Shadows, along with the Millennium Ring.

"Bakura, you have no right to put Charybdis' life at stake! I want you to release her, this is between you and me!" Yami roared and I shook my head. Did he really think that Bakura would do any favours? Especially to his enemy?? This was just crazy!!

The duel began shortly; Yami had his Dark Magician Girl out (she's so cute!), Kuriboh (that's cute too! Is it a he or a she anyway?) and had two cards faced down. Bakura had about two monsters in play, they were horrible and I haven't seen them before so I had no idea how this duel was going to end. Apparently Bakura had managed to get rid of one of Yami's trap cards and attacked Kuriboh – that's right Bakura, you Big Meanie! pick on the weakest monster first!! Yami lost about 100 life points and grunted when Kuriboh blew into tiny fragments around him. However, Yami had laid out a trap and Bakura lost some life points too. Hah!

Go Yami!!

"Let me out!!!" I demanded furiously, and I tried to break out of the glass cage this time, thumping my side into it. This was getting out of control! I needed to put a stop to this, or Yami will get hurt badly soon, he already got hurt when he lost some of his life points!! I can't let that happen to him again!

"Oh yes, I forget to mention, that when one of your monsters get sent to the graveyard, that the girl will lose a memory from her mind??"

Instantly the memory of the fuzzball Kuriboh who I had a copy of the card back in my deck at home, vanished from my mind. Now I really need to get out of here!!! HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME!!! Yami was attacked again; the Dark Magician Girl's attack was blown back to her by a trap card of Bakura's and also inflicted damage to Yami's life points. Now Yami yelled with pain and I snapped. GRR!!! You've pushed the buttons now, Bakura!! I broke through and landed on the ground flat faced, with fragments of glass littering around me and then I stood up and ran over to them.

Yami was lying on the ground wincing. "OH MY GOD OH MY GOD!!" I shrieked and I picked him back up, cradling his head in my arms. He opened his eyes weakly.

"I'm not that hurt, Charybdis." He muttered.

Okay, maybe he wasn't, anyway, I longed to do this in my dreams! But I felt as if that Yami needed my immediate support and I wasn't providing enough for him. I suddenly felt all alone, without Joey, Tea, Tristan, Duke and Ryou by our side, I felt weak and scared, without the support of my friends, I was just a small child in the dark, only brought out into the light and feeling active when I was with a group…..

Bakura snickered. "Isn't this nice? The mortal has feelings for the Pharaoh."

"You just stop it!!! Leave us alone!!" I shouted back at him fiercely, not letting go of Yami yet.

He sniggered again. "Well, since it is still my turn, I have one more move to make."

I was prepared to help Yami no matter what. (God, doesn't this sound a little too melodramatic for me to do so?) I gripped onto him tightly.

"Attack the Pharaoh's life points directly, Dark Necrophia!" Bakura cried, and the monster in front of him widened its ugly black eyes and this beam shot out at us.

"Charybdis, get away from me!" Yami shouted at me.

I looked at him. "But – But I can never leave you!" I protested helplessly.

"You will get hurt, I will be fine, I… promise you." Yami replied.

Somehow my face burned again and I closed my eyes. "No! I can't let you take that shot!" And I stood up in front of him; the blast hit me full frontal and I was slammed against the wall (if there was since I don't see any in this dimension). I wasn't very sure if I had lost life points, but I sure did lose sense of reality and dropped back down on the floor.

'_Charybdis!!'_ Was all I heard before I blacked out.

I woke up.

Sweating.

Breathless.

Terrified;

In my pink uniform.

Where am I?

I looked around my surroundings, but all I could see what pitch black. I'm still in the Shadow Realm.

"Hello??" I cried out. No one is there. No one replied.

I glanced around. I'm not in the glass cage where I was a minute ago. I'm in another funny cage – it's made of glass but slightly smaller than the other cage. It's also pyramid shaped. I can't get out. Where am I???? Fear is rising inside me now. I'm alone. In this place I don't even know where. I remember myself trapped in this place… filled with darkness and hatred…. I blink, twice… feeling weak and tired. My head, spinning around, frantically, painfully - it's sucking out something slowly…. Something that is valuable to me… something I was once knew…. Someone…. It's getting out from my hand time after time…. I'm losing track quickly….

I shook my head frantically to stop my head from spinning and remained calm. Okay, so I'm trapped in some cage of some sort where I can miraculously breathe in since I see no air holes. I looked up, to see a card in the slot above a sort of gap that separated my cage from something else. IS this the cage I was in before??

"Charybdis!!!"

I paused.

Y-Yami?????

I looked away from the top and looked in front of me. Yami was standing in front of the cage with his hand on the glass, and immediately I got the impression that I was a caged animal like before. I screamed. "Where am I now????"

"Bakura placed you into another cage, are you alright?" He asked me gently.

I noticed that he had his duel disk on and I sat back down. "I'm okay." I mumbled, remembering what had just happened before. I could never face Yami anymore. Not even in front of Yugi, this was so embarrassing…

And so here I am now, in the glass cage, with sand falling down from the top like the apples only the sand represents the time Yami has left to free me. Bakura had warned him that this would happen, and now the sand was gone up to mid thigh from where I was kneeling. If this keeps up the sand will be in my knickers!!

I had no idea Bakura was so good at duelling.

Every time Yami failed to attack Bakura, this Destiny Board card played a letter, and Bakura was onto his third. If he reached his fifth letter, either Yami or I had to pay the prices. Yami only lost life points- and me? I lost knowledge from my brain. Ack! What's 22?? (see what I mean?) Who in the world is that I see waving goodbye to me in my mind? The boy has black hair tied into a ponytail and emerald eyes with a red band around his forehead. He burst into tiny fragments and I felt a sharp pain soar through my mind. Duke!! He's… gone… Something is missing from my brain, something or someone I once knew…

**D. E. A.**

I think I was sure what the word was that was floating in mid air in front of the Ouija (is that how you spell is by the way?) Board based card, but too afraid to think about it. Why?? Another memory flashed through my brain, another boy – with narrowed amethyst eyes, hair styled into this fashion and a curved smirk that made me blush for some unknown but familiar reason. Then he waved to me too, and disappeared and I screamed as another sharp pain tore out from me. Yami's gone too… NOT HIM! I beg you!! No, no, not Joey!!! I screamed in my mind when the blonde boy winked at me and vanished. Then a girl with short brown hair held up a peace sign at me and also disappeared and I held my hand out as if I was wanting to grab them all back to me.

"_Each time a turn passes, the girl will lose a memory." _

"_When the sand fills up the glass, she will be lost in the Shadows or eternity…."_

"_I play Dark Magician in defence mode!"_

"_I switch Dark Necrophia back in attack mode!"_

Argh… Too many voices in my head…

I scrambled back down and sat down on the soft sand clutching my head in pain. The sand kept falling down and down past me, on top of me, over my hair and into my clothes. Memories are flooding in through me and out of me painfully and I can't stop it.

"_Fight the evil, Charybdis!"_

"_You can do it, Gurlie!"_

"_Charybdis, we're all here for you!"_

"_It isn't your fault, I don't blame you."_

"_Charybdis could be a bit forgetful sometimes…." _

"_Charybdis, stop listening to me on the phone!!" _

"_Charybdis, finish your chemistry homework or you're not watching any TV!" _

Too many voices…. Everything is happening at once…. Too much… pain… the pain… unbearable pain… it's torturing me… I gotta snap out of it!!

Coming to think of it, why am I here in the first place?? I glanced at the tri-coloured hair boy standing a distance away from the barrier facing another boy with long white hair. Both have these funny creatures surrounding them and cards facing down in front of them. Is some sort of game??

"Hey – hey! You there!! What's this?? Some sort of solitaire game??" I reached over and placed my hands on my glass after clambering my way through the golden coloured layers that keep coming and coming and reached my waist and patted on the glass smiling at him. He turned a little to face me. I seemed to have a feeling that I've seen him somewhere….

"Charybdis…." He muttered softly and I cocked my head in confusion. "Who??" I asked.

The white haired boy laughed insanely. "The mortal has already forgotten you, Pharaoh!!"

"Eh?? Who are you??" I asked. Where am I?? Who am I?? Who are they?? How do I get out of here?? Why are these tiny, golden fragments raining down on me?? I lay huddled up in a ball, clutching my knees to my chest while I saw more small, tiny fragments of gold glittering down me. Is it powder? Magic powder? Some kind of dust? I reached my hand out, and then grasp the particles tightly…. No… it's something… it's sand…. More and more are coming down on top of me. I made no attempt to see where it originated. It's coming from above me anyway, and it's already dusted itself around me, and is sitting on top of my hair and around my skirt, that my underwear are filled with sand too…

I shake my head to get rid of it, but more and more is coming. I can't see very well… my vision is blurry and misty….

The two figures are still duelling.

The sand has reached up over my eyes now, and I sink inside. My mind is entering a void of nothingness. I'm suffocating!! HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME HELP ME!!! My right hand is poking out from the top with my palm outstretched, as if I was trying to grab onto something. My fingertips are trying to catch something but there's nothing there.

I can't remember anything now.

Something touches my hand just before it gets sucked into the sand with me. Something warm. It feels strangely odd, but familiar and it clasps itself around my poor hand and pulls me out from the sand. I felt my body being lifted gently out and placed on a soft/hard form. I couldn't feel any sand in my pants anymore.

"Charybdis, wake up now. You are safe."

"I wanna sleep……" I mumbled groggily, not opening my eyes.

I felt myself being lifted up again, and then I cracked one eye open. Someone is carrying me bridal style, and I immediately thought back to Joey – whoever he was – the time he carried he up the stairs when I had broken my leg. My brain hurt and I flung my hands over my head, shaking it sideways to try and blot the pain away.

"Ow…. It hurts…." I squeaked.

"Your memories will come flooding back to you soon, I promise." The male voice said to me gently.

I half open my dull, lifeless eyes now, to see a tall figure looking down at me. I can't see his face. I can only see a quick flash of amethyst, and something on his forehead glowing brightly – it's an eye. He's got a third eye…. I yelped in surprise weakly and the figure lowered me down on the ground; we were still in the pitch-black place. "Where am I?" I asked quietly, as I closed my eyes again.

He chuckled softly. "You are in the Shadow realm, Charybdis."

"The… Shadow Realm?" Another memory flooded inside me, one of where I was sitting in my bedroom with all my friends around me, we were talking about exorcism. "Why… isn't the pain going??" I asked meekly when I make no attempt to move from his arms, which were still holding me.

"You are lucky that your memories are coming back to you here." He replied.

"Memories….." I murmured wobbly. "I don't have any memories…." My half open eyes strain to see my savoir. "Who… Who are you…?" I asked questioningly.

Suddenly I see another flash of colour, something red, black and gold. I winced again. "I…. can't…. I can't…. stop them… from coming…" I shook my head hard. The figure's hand reaches down and rubs my cheek soothingly and I relaxed a little against his cool touch. "You are brave to stand up to Bakura, but in the end I let you fall to his trap and paid the price, Charybdis, you didn't deserve this." He said quietly.

Another memory filled my empty brain but I couldn't recall it no matter how hard I tried. The figure chuckled again, and lifted my weak body from my ground, still bridal style and walks forward. My head snuggled into his warm chest, and something catches my eye. I raise a shaky hand, and touch the funny, upside down, pyramid shaped box dangling on a chain from around his neck carefully. Another memory went inside me. Something green filled my brain – a grassy football pitch. There are two figures lazing under the oak tree there under a clear blue sky.

"You finally recieve a memory with me in it." He muttered to himself, but I heard him loud and clear. Then another memory came inside. There is this boy, with me, somewhere in front of a high school, kneeling down in front of me, with his hand on my face gently, trying to tilt my face up to look at him, but I'm not moving. I'm crying, hard, pathetically that I don't notice.

"Yami…." I breathed. He didn't hear.

There was a bright white light ahead, and I closed my eyes tightly to stop the brilliant flash from blinding me. I squirmed a little in his grip and he tightened his hold on me. "Where are we going??" I croaked out.

"We're leaving now." He said reassuringly.

And he carried me out, into the depths of the light.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Okay, okay, this chapter was entirely created from my wonderful (lol) and imaginative brain to try and strengthen Yami and Charybdis' relationship. I'm actually starting to doubt that I'll finish this by Christmas, so I'll probably set the target of finishing this story to January or something later! Sorry!

I've got this Yu-Gi-Oh character book at home, with pictures of all the characters, their duelling stats and their cards, and this small chapter at the end of the book about the Millennium items, unfortunately I can't read all of it since it's in Chinese! I've also decided NOT to say that Charybdis gets a Millennium Item, but just some kind of artefact from Egypt – bear with me people!

There's also going to be a chapter in honour of my characters' birthday! Yup, Charybdis' birthday is 4th of December! Callista's birthday is also passed but I thought not to put it in since I already updated past that date!


	17. A Mixture of Emotions

**Chapter 17**

**A Mixture of Emotions**

_I don't get it. You won the duel in the Shadow Realm and she's safe, so why isn't she waking?_

_I don't know Yugi, but I was lucky enough to get her out of the glass before she was consumed by the shadows. _

_Yami, what if Bakura goes back to get her again? He sent her to the Shadow Realm just to get to us – that's a low-down dirty trick!_

_I don't think he'll come for her again; after all, we managed to send HIM there instead. _

_Yeah, you're right, he'll probably have problems trying to get back out of there again. _

I woke up lying in someone's arms, on the girl's bathroom floor. I shivered a little but didn't open my eyes – yet. My fingers twitched.

_Did you see that?? Her fingers are moving!_

I felt someone's hand squeeze my right hand tightly and I struggled again feebly. Aww man, why can't those two voices just shut up and leave me alone?! I wanna go to sleep!! I pulled back a little and whimpered a little, snuggling deeper into the warmth of his/her chest, my ears straining to block out possible noise.

_She's waking up! _

"AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!" I growled fiercely, and I sat up glaring at the two annoying voices that just kept coming and coming and coming! It sort of reminded me of the times when I was stuck in an argument between two people, although this wasn't the exact same circumstance, it was still annoying though, and the voices just wouldn't be quiet and leave me alone!!

Yugi?? Yami??

I blinked at them.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked worriedly.

They were there. Both blinking back at me while I growled at them, my eyes half open and my hand scratching my head. I nodded slowly, and turned over, noticing that the person's hand hadn't let go yet. Yami. "Let go…. I wanna go back to sleep…." I yawned, although I couldn't stop the blush from creeping across my cheeks, I found it quite nice…

And then it hit me like a basketball slamming me full frontal in the face. I was lying in Yami's arms all the time!!!! Yugi was in spirit form while Yami was in flesh and blood. I looked down at the ground, slumping and sniffling a little. I didn't know my reaction right now; Somehow my face had frozen – my eyebrows pulled up in surprise, my eyes widened like saucers and my mouth bared in a terrified way – OO; I didn't know how to react, actually. Why?? I just remembered that, when I am asleep, I either:

A) Snore

B) Drool

C) Talk in my sleep

And traces of evidence of me sleepwalking came to a total to nil in the Sandman's report so I didn't know whether if I had grabbed Yami in my sleep thinking that he was a comfy pillow to rest my sleepy head. But I did remember myself in my dream lying on my futon at home. Then the next thing in my dream was that my History Booklet on Hitler Youth had popped up in front of me and I realized that I still had to finish my essay on it.

"Need to finish essay, essay due tomorrow, need to finish." Then I try to get up but then something pushes me back down on the bed and I feel the comfiness returning and I start muttering with my eyes glazed over: "Pillow… too soft and warm… can't fight the fluffiness… need to sleep….. (snores)"

While back in reality:

"That…. Really did happen, didn't it??" I croaked shakily, staring at the corners, scratching my head irritably and biting my lip that was a bad habit of mine each time I done when I got nervous. The horrible memory I wished got erased from my mind was the one where I confessed in front of Yami. How come that memory couldn't get washed away instead??? This was so unfair!! Damn it!

"Yes." Yami replied. He didn't let go of my cold hand yet and I decided to ignore this and continue blabbing that I really needed contacts one day – I was trying to change the subject. I spotted Ryou lying down unconscious on the floor beside us. I LET go of his hand first and ran to his aid. "Poor Ryou, he's been through a lot lately." I heaved to pick him up and Yami helped him onto his back and walked out from the bathroom to the office.

We watched Ryou being laid down on the Medical Room's bed as the Nurse left to contact his father. Yami and I stayed there, awkwardly; well I thought it was awkward. My face was burning badly; I was fiddling with the buttons on the uniform continuously as I sat down on the chair beside Ryou's bed and Yami just stood facing the window beside me, with his hands in his pockets.

…………

The annoying clock on the wall is ticking me off with its –err…. ticking!!

………..

Ryou shifted and wriggled under the covers.

………..

I yawned.

…………

Yami straightened a little.

…………

…………….

…………………

He turned directly to me and I pretended not to notice that he had strolled over beside my chair. I kept my head down, that my long fringe covered my eyes and strands of hair went past my shoulders and framed my face. God help me!! I don't know how to face him!!

"Charybdis," He said softly. "I… need to tell you something."

"What is it??" I squeaked. "I – "

_GROWWWLLL!!!_

I cringed when my stomach groaned in protest, I had no idea how hungry I was, it's already lunchtime! Thinking that this was my perfect chance to get away, I stood up from my seat. "I want to go get something to eat first, tell me later. See you in class, later!"

Rising up from my seat and waddling to the door with my face looking down, I was suddenly stopped abruptly before my hand touched the handle when another hand slammed down on the door, stopping me. I did stop, and craned my head to look. "Er….. Can you – um… move your hand??" I squeaked quietly and politely to Yami. "Please?" I squeaked hopefully back at him.

He was a couple of centimetres away from me; I could feel his hot breath on my face. His eyes weren't level with mine but I still felt as though he was staring at me, me, me, and me. Blasted heart!! It's begun pumping adrenaline through me at 100 percent! His arm didn't budge in front of me and suddenly I had the feeling that I was a trapped mouse cornered by a cat.

"Eeeek." I squeaked again. I wondered what would happen if I got some cheese to nibble at – would I really look like a mouse? Probably.

"Why are you trying to avoid me?" Yami spoke softly and I immediately shrank back that he was now about a metre taller than me.

"I'm – I'm not avoiding you." I stammered.

My knees began quaking and clunking next to each other and I wanted to run into the toilets but Yami had me cornered and I was trapped – there was no options since Yami had blocked them all – he clearly wanted to keep me within his territory, judging by:

1) The way his body is slowly grinding into me

2) The way his mouth is just a couple of millimetres apart from mine

3) The way his lips is also formed into that gorgeous smile of his

4) The way his eyes with the 8mm lashes attached are giving me the 'Sign' to me (his eyes are glowing with hints of mischievous)

5) The way he's tilted his head over to the side of my neck but he's still looking at me

6) The way his two hands are outstretched by my sides on the wall, not letting me get out.

7) The way I was staring at him with my teeth chattering and sweat dropping. Obviously all of his actions had made my blood rush to my head and my cheeks making that annoying blush creep back.

8) And the way a big glob of drool is hanging out from my dry mouth because my mouth is open in awe.

AARRGGGHHHH!! The body language shows it all!! I trembled uncontrollably and he smirked even more. Curse you Yami with charms!

"I heard it was your birthday soon." He breathed.

"It's – It's this Saturday."

This was another side of Yami I hadn't encountered yet – to be honest; I sort of liked it! He was obviously 'flirting' – although this seemed really outrageous to me since I'm a crap flirter myself, and I haven't seen Yami do these kinds of things before. Although no sign of the 'flirting' indicator reflected in his deep, husky voice, I just kept getting that feeling that he was. WITH ME!!! Sighs…. I thought I was hallucinating dead great grandma above us.

"I'm – I'm thinking of inviting you all to a restaurant." I babbled. True, I had a few dreams of going into that posh restaurant called 'The Red Forest Café' down town. It was incredibly luxurious, with nice velvet seats and clean tables, nice food and drink and even some entertainment only people aged 15 and older could go into! I just wanted to save it for a nice time – my birthday. I'd wanted to celebrate my birthday with my friends this year.

"Am I invited?"

"Yeah – of course… ehehehe." I guffawed nervously, forcing out a sweet smile but also sweat dropping more that my head felt that it had been dunked in salt water.

He was going to say something until the school nurse bustled back in and he let go of me, and I was once free again. We both stood beside each other when the nurse went to take Ryou's temperature; he seemed to be in a deep sleep. I balanced on one leg to another awkwardly on the spot as the nurse said that we could go now. Fortunately Ryou would be waking up now. He wasn't badly injured and didn't need to go to hospital, just needed some rest.

FREEDEOM!! FREE- EEE- EEE- DOM!!!

I almost cheered when I managed to get out from there alive. Yami changed back to Yugi since the bell rang and I was relieved that the 'danger' had passed. But that didn't mean that it wouldn't happen again!

o

Yami and Yugi were surprised that the Shadow Realm didn't seem to have an effect on me. What? Did they expect me to go all weird, quiet, mumbly-jumbly and always paranoid of my surroundings? Heck no, I was still my lazy, annoying and clumsy self. The others found out about my little 'adventure'. They all cheered that I was brave enough to stand up to Bakura and I was like: "Haven't I always been brave??' And they're like: "NO".

Callista had picked out an outfit for me to wear for my 'party'. The outfit was just a glittery white loose sleeve top with a printed pink rose on. Fortunately it didn't look as loose as it should because it had an elastic band around my waist and wrists. I took my nice pretty blue sequined jeans I bought a couple of days ago when I went out to town with Serenity and matched it with a pink belt which had several loose strands of material tied at the side. Then I stuffed my feet covered with pink socks with embroidered sheep into black, leather high heeled boots and was ready to par – tay!!

All my friends are invited, Ryou was feeling much better and safer since Bakura had been banished to the Shadow Realm so I was feeling pleased that he could come. Unfortunately I wasn't at the scene when Bakura was banished – now that I would like to see! I also invited Serenity and Mai to come too. Mum booked us a table, it was actually about 2-3 tables stuck together but it was comfy and the area was nice. It was by the counter where all the drinks were and nowhere near any bins or the noisy kitchen!

We were all to meet at 6pm outside the restaurant on Saturday.

o

"Guys! Guys!! I'm sorry I'm late!!" I yelled to them as I tried to run in my boots up to the large group who were talking to each other or standing, waiting for me, the birthday girl!

They all looked across the road as soon as they saw me, huffing, breathless, tired and exhausted. I stopped shortly in front of them. "Hi Mai, hi Serenity, hi Duke, hi Ryou, hi Tea, hi Tristan, hi Joey, hi Y-Y-Y-Yugi." I had gone past them all greeting them politely until Yami was at the end of the queue I had stuttered helplessly. People were staring at the stammering fool with her palm raised to the young handsome male with his arms folded, smirking at her.

God, this was so embarrassing…

But I won't let him spoil my fun!! This was my birthday, meaning that I had total control today!! I won't let a former Pharaoh destroy my day just because of his manly charms and good looks, no way hose – ay (lol, I know I've spelt that wrong!) this is MY life!! I straightened myself and smiled sweetly back at him, then turned back to the gang who had crowded around me. "So, are we ready to party??" I asked loudly.

"Yeah!!"

I'm not – really. Honest.

We all walked over to the door where we could hear muffled music playing inside. I sneaked a look at what my friends were wearing – Tea was wearing a nice crimson coloured short skirt and black belt, with a yellow top saying 'Spirit' on it, Serenity had her hair down as usual and a blue shirt on with a dress, Mai was wearing a black denim jacket this time, a white top underneath and a short blue denim skirt and boots. I must say; the girls really did impressive.

Tristan had a black shirt on, unbuttoned and a light beige coloured shirt underneath, Ryou had a black sleeveless - jacket with yellow rims and a blue t-shirt underneath and jeans. Duke wore his red sleeveless jacket, his black shirt and trousers and his usual red headband, completed with the dice earring dangling down from his left ear. Joey wore a long, blue and white t-shirt and jeans. Somehow that made him looked really tall.

And Yami? Another leather black, sleeveless top that hugged his torso nicely (drool, drool – here we go again!), several gold arm bracelets on both arms and wrists, a double black belt with silver studs on it, dark blue jeans and matching shoes. Not forgetting the Millennium Puzzle since it seemed to fit in with his outfit. He glanced over at me – I moved my head from him quickly as I was pulled in by Joey, Tristan and Mai, Yami was beside me all the time and I immediately sensed his presence and leapt in after them.

o

After being bombarded with hugs and kisses from the girls, gifts being pressed into my tiny palms and everyone else dragging me over to our reserved table, I had finally experienced the meaning of 'happiness'. I had tons of gifts; Mai gave me this really nice shoulder top – the ones that have straps that went horizontally, not vertically up the shoulders. It was white, incredibly small with a nice print of some kind of logo with words like 'Carlsberg' and 'Bacardi'.

"I wasn't sure if that was the right size, but then I asked Tea and she told me, hope you like it, honey, happy birthday." I squealed with surprise and hugged Mai in her seat.

The seating plan was this. From left to right: I was sitting in the middle, with Mai on my right and Serenity on my left. Beside Serenity were Tristan, then Yami, then Tea, then Duke, then Ryou and Joey beside Mai.

I tore away the wrapping paper of the presents savagely and Serenity had to stop me from cutting myself. I opened the next present as slowly and carefully as I could. It was from Ryou. He had given me a box of 'Celebrations'. I gave Ryou a friendly hug and shared it amongst us. Next I opened Duke's present; a starter pack to Dungeon Dice Monsters. Okay, I wasn't extremely happy but I thanked him and gave him a hug as well. I could challenge Grandma to this game and make up my own rules so she'd lose. Muhahahaha!!

Then I found this beautifully wrapped box in the box of the other gifts I'd yet to open and read the tag. It was from Tea. It was a nice bracelet and earrings with a ruby red jewel in each. I hadn't gotten my ears pierced yet but I took note of it to wear those once I did. Then I opened Joey's. He'd gotten me this nice ornamental golden key, saying 'Happy Birthday' and I hugged him. I opened Tristan's. He got me this huge stuffed teddy bear and I squealed again. I opened Serenity's and she'd given me a limited edition of a panda beanie baby. By now you should've known that I'd given hugs to everyone at the table.

I came across this golden box. It was quite small, but also heavy and I peered at it curiously. The gift was especially neatly wrapped up, unlike Joey's that was just messily folded over and taped. It had a pearly white ribbon around it, with a little flower made out of the ribbon on it and I wondered who had given me this. Well, who was left??

Yami.

I froze, but my hands didn't when it came wandering up to the end of the ribbon and I pulled it, the ribbon fell down on my lap and I lifted the lid off the box and my eyes widened when I took it out.

It was a gold pendant, with funny hieroglyphic shapes on it, gold diamond points trailed down it in three different routes just like Ryou's Millennium Ring. The pendant was quite small, but heavy and felt cool against my fingers. It somehow looked like a locket and I tried to open a small opening I saw, but it didn't budge. I swallowed and croaked out to him. "It's beautiful."

He must've been planning this all the time. I gave him an incredibly tight hug – I didn't really want to but the pendant was just too pretty that I couldn't stop staring at it for almost half an hour, and everyone cooed. I placed it around my neck on the matching gold chain and smiled. "Fank yoo, y'all!!"

And then we ate. It was delicious, the food and beverages. Everyone had ordered different stuff – pizzas, hamburgers, fries, milkshakes, hot chocolate and marshmallows (that was me) etc. And if anyone wanted another drink they'd just walk about ten steps and then order, and return back to our seats. Isn't that handy?

I also got my birthday cake – a huge one with cream and iced flowers on it. It was incredibly sickly sweet and unfortunately I couldn't manage a slice without drinking water. And they were all singing happy birthday to me, making me blush like mad.

The boys were all gulping down root beer and other non-alcoholic drinks while us girls drunk their cocktails politely. Then we played games; drinking games, Joey had challenged me and we sang that stupid rhythm that the loser will have to drink if they failed to get the correct number that our hands held up. I said 'Two' and Joey said 'Three'. He had three fingers up and I only had one. Oh, I lost. I drank the coke and choked. And we played again; dares and tests – you name it – although only some of us took part – not including me, Yami, Serenity and Ryou. We three just sat in our seats watching the others.

Tea dragged me in to play Truth or Dare with them but I refused. I'd say we were beginning to get high. Serenity had started to follow the beat of the song quietly the musicians were playing. Joey and Mai were dancing with other people on the cleared space on the floor. Tea had ventured somewhere; a waitress had started to chat up Ryou leaving him all red in the face. Duke and Tristan had just wandered around the place. Leaving Yami and I at the table – alone.

The music was booming in my ears, the sound of laughter echoed around the busy atmosphere and lights flashed – luckily they weren't ultra violet ones- or my clothes would've been transparent for the world to see!

Yami had slid over to me without me noticing. "Do you like my present?" He asked me, smirking slightly.

"WHAT???? I CANNAE (can't) HEAR YE OVER THE NOISE!!" I said helplessly to him.

"DO YOU WANT TO GO OUTSIDE TO TALK??" He asked me, louder this time and I listened.

"Ummm…" I thought for a while.

"OKAY!!!"

o

It was quite cold outside. Looking at my clock it was already 8pm. We both sidled over outside from the door into the empty streets. The streetlights were on, leaving spotlights on several places on the pavement where we walked.

In silence.

Awkwardly.

Again.

"Do you like the gift I gave you, Charybdis?" Yami asked, breaking it suddenly.

I nodded, fingering it carefully and gently as it swayed to and fro as I walked. "I like it, thank you."

The silence seeped upon us again.

Yami looked at me.

I looked at him

He still continued looking at me.

I looked away.

But he didn't.

I started to sweat.

He leaned in.

I turned a little.

He leaned in even more.

I shrank back but his arms grabbed me to prevent me from escaping.

o.O!!!

We had stopped under the light of a lamppost. I could see him clearly now – those, precious, rich amethyst eyes staring into mine, those thing lips curved up into a slight smirk, his strong, bare hands on my shoulders. I 'eeped' as he came in closer – dangerously close.

"We were interrupted the last time, it won't happen again." Yami said quietly.

Ohhhhh Goddddd………

He leaned in for it, his lips almost touching mine so I did too, I leaned in, my puckered lips ready for his taking.

Then I woke up from my daydream on the floor. Apparently that was just a little daydream. He hadn't pressed me onto the lamppost and almost kissed me, or stared at me affectionately and stuff. I had tripped over a slab that had protruded out a little where my shoe caught it and I fell down on the ground, with my puckered lips kissing the dirt. Eww!! Yami helped me back up and I managed myself back on my feet again.

"Are you alright?" He asked me.

"Yeah." I muttered. "I think we should go back, it's getting late." I took note how the sky was darkening dramatically fast since it was winter.

We both trudged back to the door, where Yami stopped me from entering. I froze like stone again, and Yami had to pull me over to the side where he stood facing me. "What – what's wrong, Yami??"

"……… I want to tell you, that I wish you a happy birthday today." He said.

"You could've told me that inside. Come on, let's go back I – eee!!" I stepped back but Yami pulled me back on the spot where I was a minute ago.

This time, he did leaned in to me. I squeaked again but I didn't shrink back. "I also wanted to tell you, that I like you too." I opened my eyes again. Did my ears deceive me?? They, don't, they never do. I just cleaned them today! "R-R-Really???" I squeaked awkwardly. Yami nodded, and leaned in even more, his hand now pinning me to the wall. I gulped, as our mouths almost touched. This was just like my daydream - only its real!!


	18. The Basic Steps

**Chapter 18**

**The Basic Steps**

"STTTTOOOPPPPP!!!!"

And he did.

I breathed hard, avoiding eye contact again. I had no idea why I had screamed. I had no idea why a mixture of unwanted emotions had waved through me. This wasn't right….

"I – I – I can't!!" I stammered to him.

"Can't what?" Yami asked as he let go of me.

"… This… it, isn't right," I bit my lip, then ran a hand through my hair as I waddled away from him and stood beside him. "We… we can't do this."

"Why?" He sounded alerted and possibly angry. Very.

"Because… you're dead and I'm alive. Don't you get it??? We don't have a future, even if I want to be with you – and you want to be with me(for some unknown reason I was also wary of that sentence). Your time… has already stopped on Earth, Fate (or is it destiny??) doesn't have another adventure for you – if – if that's what you call it. You don't have your own body, you share Yugi's body, and how is Tea going to be with Yugi in the future?? What about me?? What about yourself?? You – I – this is all a mistake. A big, big mistake. I'm sorry Yami."

"Charybdis…."

"No, don't say anything, I know you think that way too. Don't deny it." I couldn't believe I was saying this. I hadn't thought about this for a time being. Yami hadn't thought about it either – I don't think. This was crazy, mad and insane. The sudden pang of guilt and disappointment surged through me when my brain's thoughts and worries clashed together. It was unexplainable in a way, but I knew it felt as if everything was happening at once and I couldn't do anything to help it. I felt as if I had let down Yami for saying all this stuff.

Yeah, what about Tea and Yugi? They won't get the chance to be together if there's two people inside one body. I can't be with Yami.

We both stared at the ground in silence. Before:

"Can you… slap me, Yami??" I mumbled.

"What??"

"I want you to slap me, hard!" I demanded furiously that my brow was burrowing deep into a glare on my face. I raised his palm myself, and brought it slamming against my cheek painfully as it connected.

"Charybdis!!" He shouted.

I ignored him and clung onto his hand tightly and didn't allow him to retreat no matter how hard he struggled. "I'm okay, really," I shouted to him reassuringly.

Slap!!

"I'm fine! See??"

Smack!!

"Honestly!!"

I held his palm up again, but this time he tore roughly away from me.

"Charybdis that is enough!!!"

His words stung through me excruciatingly and I bit my lip again. I knew what I had done was wrong.

"I – I – don't know what to do, I just feel as if a chunk of my heart is missing, Yami. I've been 'crushing' on you for ages, but eventually found out that we can't even be together." Apparently I had been talking non-stop again when I had felt the guilt raise up through me that Yami had just pressed me into his embrace and I didn't even notice, and carried on screaming and wailing in his arms.

This was the worst birthday present ever.

I sniffled.

Was I - ??

Yes, I was crying. Yami hushed me and hugged me tighter, his hand brushed softly against my red cheek. "Let this moment be in our hearts for the moment then." He said comfortingly, and then quickly, he lifted my face up to his and planted his lips onto mine.

I froze.

I closed my eyes shut tight.

It felt good!

It really did!

The Sex God was kissing me.

OHMIGOD OHMIGOD OHMIGOD.

I responded back to him clumsily, trying to kiss right. I knew I was bad; I was slobbering over him and almost slipping off his lips but I managed to hang on. I squeaked a little, but he didn't mind and even pressed me into him to deepen our 'passionate' kiss. I didn't care if anyone saw us. I didn't even care if Tea did.

Fire kiss and Ice kiss!

Okay, I take back what I said about 'the worst birthday present'!!

o

The next day, after Sunday, I trotted up to school tiredly, yawning all the way since I didn't get enough sleep yesterday due to some 'terms' and stared at the ground as I waddled to the sides and back, that I hadn't noticed that I had bumped into people just like the day at the Museum. It was foggy and dark outside, that I had begun to envy people who got car rides to school while I had skates that could slip any moment because several accounts of black ice was determined in the local papers a few days before.

The birthday party wasn't as fun as it was before when Yami and I returned back inside. I lay sulky and unhappy during the time until 9pm when it was finally over. Even if Yami and I had agreed to keep our little 'secret' between ourselves, and decided to be together for the time being right now and not contemplating about the future but the present without anyone finding out about us, I knew I shouldn't have been a stick in the mud when Yami changed over to Yugi, and he left me to play dares with the guys while I remained in my seat alone, watching the rest played. Serenity had gone home a couple of minutes after I had returned from outside; Ryou had gone up to play as well so I was by myself.

Of course they invited me to play but I refused their offer. I rather enjoyed sitting by myself, although watching other people around me playing and laughing did make me feel quite lonely. I had to urge to go to the bathrooms or something, or even home, but I didn't pluck up the courage and stayed there in the shadows, away from the spotlights.

When it was finally finished, I walked home, not by myself, but with them all again because they said that since I was the birthday girl, I shouldn't be walking alone – especially at this hour. I was still blank and zoned out from my friends no matter how hard they tried to catch my attention, and how hard I tried to concentrate on them but it was difficult.

o

I stared at myself in front of the girls' bathroom mirror, thinking how people would react when they found out that the Sex God (Yami) and I had become 'officially boyfriend and girlfriend'. People probably won't even realise that I'm his girlfriend – due because I look so normal, scrawny, skinny and plain. I needed a new look – badly. From seeing Tea, Serenity and Mai's styles were, which was cute (Serenity, probably), sexy (Mai), Tea (comfortable), I had finally decided what kind of style I would go with to match with Yami.

I had also been observing **his** fashion styles too. Okay, so the Sex God goes for leather, black, gold and anything shiny or metallic, judging by his 'choice' of armlets and other types of designer wear for accessories they're always either silver or gold. People also say that a man (or in this case, a spirit) who dresses nicely, has wonderful musky breath and husky voice, fit torso and sleek muscles and nice handwriting (I forced him to write my name out once and boy, was I surprised??) are ones who would go for the 'casual' and 'serious' girls which I am neither since; okay, I admit it myself; I am boring, dull and basically, erm, uh… average.

So then I decided to go for the 'serious' look. I'd blend in perfectly with him that people would think that I was his girlfriend, because right now I am the total opposite. I am pink, I adore anything with cute bunnies, flowers, hearts an teddy bears, I love jewellery (that's one thing Yami and I have in common) and chains (that's another thing we have in common – god, don't you think that we are such a great couple? Eh? LOL). So then I maintained a 'cool' look and felt satisfied.

Feeling rather victorious with my own goals and targets to fit in with the group, I marched back out triumphantly, instantly my eyes setting upon the two tall males who were crowding round the notice board just by the social area and opposite the toilets. I marched over to them, and tapped Duke on the shoulder. He turned around.

"Charybdis? What is it?" He asked.

I shuffled my feet, and stared at the ground as if something was attracting me to it – like a very nice framed picture of Yami….

Anyways, I croaked a little and looked back over to them, as Tristan turned round. "Whoa, Happy Boo, you don't like too happy."

My 'solemn' look cracked and I returned to my goofy grin. "What's that supposed to mean??" I decided to ignore him after that and concentrated on Duke. He was a ladies man; maybe he could help me? "I'm trying to keep a 'cool' look, but I think I need some help."

Both look confused. "Why?"

"Because I think I'm always don't take things seriously enough, and I want to change, by looking serious, can you help?" I asked them impassively, keeping the look back.

Duke smirked, rested his chin in his hand, and then placed it on the wall. "So, you want a role model, huh?" He stated coolly. Now that's more like it! I wanna be like him – only the female version!

I nodded continuously to convince him. Tristan suddenly burst in. "I could help you there too, Happy Boo."

"Hey back off Tristan! Charybdis only needs help from me, she clearly requires a good-looking male to help her, which is me, don't you think so??" Duke barked at him.

Here we go again. I rolled my eyes as Tristan scoffed back at Duke. "Guys, stop it. I need help from both of you." I said quietly.

o

"What's this??" I asked questioningly as I glanced at the paper that Duke presented me with.

We arranged to meet after school down by the park where it was freezing cold by that time, which was only 4pm. I looked at the A4-sized paper, with a futuristic design, and five people standing in the middle, all wearing black trench coats and other black coloured garments including sunglasses and even black watches. They were standing like hierarchy, one in front, who must've been the main character, and then two behind him and the rest etc. Down at the foot of the poster where the words 'The Basic', in very silver writing that it gleamed in the fog and in Times New Roman Font.

"It's called 'The Basic', a movie set in the future, this is the first one, and there's already two movies out; 'The Basic II' and 'The Basic Reloaded'." Tristan replied.

"Why are you giving me this?" I asked.

"Because, it's the perfect example you wanted, besides, I'm always available and – " Duke said but was cut off by Tristan again.

I stayed hunched over the poster and inspected it clearly. My eyes sparkled with inspiration and I squealed with delight. This was exactly the look I've been hunting for!! All I needed to do was just to get a black trench coat like theirs, black boots, black clothing – anything you name it! I thanked them, and immediately ran home to phone Mai.

During the weekend, we both decided to meet at Delifrance to talk over the stuff I needed. She asked me why I needed the trench coat and other black garments, but then I had shyed away from her all red in the face thinking how Yami would react when he found out that I was changing my look for him and shifted in my seat uncomfortably so she decided that this was confidential to me, and only me.

On my shopping list, I had scribbled down some grubby words onto a ripped out piece of paper from my diary with my pink gel pen. Mai had some difficulties reading it properly, and I had to point out some words to her. She managed to make out that I wanted a:

Black trench coat (best if it was leather)

Black pants

Black platform shoes or either trainers

Finger cut black gloves

A black top

A leather belt with silver studs on it

I scored sunglasses out since I still had the one I used for our 'date' to the museum.

"Don't worry, honey. We'll get these items before you can say 'Harpy Lady'." Mai told me reassuringly when she saw my face paling as we walked around several shops that only sold outfits for Christmas parties and warm jackets.

I remained quiet as she drove us from town after we managed to wander around the whole of Domino, ransacking the shelves for hours until we finally found what I was looking for. I must say; I really needed to apologise to Mai for dragging her out like this. It was incredibly cold, and I believed that she must've thought I was crazy to get these clothing at this time of year. So I decided to be truthful and blurted it out why I wanted these in the first place, referring Yami to 'a friend' and not mentioning his name at all.

I felt really guilty for some reason.

o

"Excuse me, coming through!!"

Tomorrow morning, I sped through the slightly crowded streets of Domino to the Square where I was meeting the Sex God at precisely 11am. Thankfully it wasn't as cold as yesterday, and even a little bit warmer so I actually felt boiling inside my trench coat. Right now it was about….

**10:55:04 **

I covered my especially-bought silver watch with the sleeve of my black trench coat and increased my pace even further; thanks to the new trainers I bought yesterday with Mai they've added extra leg power and spring action to my strides that it looked as if I was bouncing smoothly along. Yes, I'd put everything I got on, including black socks and even black nail polish. A few people looked at the black thing that had '_whooshed_' past them quickly and silently; weaving through the crowds of people elegantly and carefully to avoid bumping into them. You guessed it again – I done a few 'running' practices at my huge back yard, trying to perfect a type of running a trillion times and Callista thought I'd gone off my top when she spotted me hopping, leaping, prancing and doing all other funny movements with my legs on the dirty grey slabs.

"Watch out!"

I had run into a tennis court, which was holding early tennis practices where the people opposite of the net were hitting balls over to me – not deliberately. But I had it under control. As soon as the balls almost made contact with me in slow motion I bent backwards, swinging my arms as if I was doing the backstroke in a swimming pool except my feet stayed on the ground. It was a miracle my back wasn't broken yet, and I hadn't fallen yet – of course I fell down afterwards by accident and landed on my back.

_Whooshooo……….._

The tennis balls hit the opposite wall as I got back up and dusted my coat. Okay, my stupid attempt of copying a stunt from 'The Basic' had failed – so what?? I only needed to keep my 'cool' image up. I tilted my sunglasses, frowned and continued making the journey to Domino Square.

I managed to arrive there at 11:02am and 45 seconds later. I was running too fast to notice that I had actually ran past him! I skidded to a shot halt on my heels and turned back round, then jogged over to him and stood in front of him proudly and stiffly, my 'serious' look switched on and my hands on my hips. I truly felt like someone in the degree of godhood for some reason. I wished that a golden glow were emitting from my body right at this moment, probably because I felt a bit like a superhero.

Super Charybdis!!

"Number 48860 reporting for duty." I said narrowing my eyes behind the sunglasses. The code number was my membership number for the '

He raised a eyebrow and chuckled. "Is that you, Charybdis?" He folded his bare arms over his black shirt.

I struggled to remain impassive but the shy smile creeped back across my face and I couldn't help it but make my face crack. "I know, I was perfect." I swooned over myself.

He chuckled again. "Why are you wearing these clothes?" He asked as we sat down on a bench. I tugged at the coat and giggled. "Do you like it?" I asked him eagerly, the grin spreading wider and wider. The Sex God seemed to shift a little in his seat though no other emotion flowed through his face, as the smirk never vanished. "Sort of."

The grin dropped from my face and I hung my head down low. "Do you not like my new style??" I mumbled wobbly.

The Sex God now looked quite nervous - a little. "Of course not, I like your new 'style'." He replied quickly.

"Really???" I shot back up and wrapped my arms around him tightly, rubbing my cheek against his affectionately. Why did I seem to remind myself that I was some sort pet cat who rubbed against a warm radiator or something??

Helaughedand put an arm around me. "Yes. But why, may I ask, are you changing your 'style'?" He asked politely.

"For you, silly." I replied happily.

"Me?" His smirk widened like mine's a couple of minutes before.

"I think I look too er…. What's the word?? Um…. The opposite of serious, get it?" I added, taking off my sunglasses and folding them up into my pocket.

He pondered for a moment and then nodded briefly. "You didn't have to, you're fine the way you were before."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hello guys! I've updated again! I'm sorry to break it out but I won't be able to update for quite some while, since I'm starting to lose some time on the Internet to homework and my family. But I'm doing my best to update as soon as possible. My sister also wants me to finish her story too – she's suffering from writer's block!

As you probably would've guesses, 'The Basic' is actually based on 'The Matrix' lol! The name came from my imagination. I was looking for a word that rhymed with matrix and eventually came up with basic. Okay, it doesn't really rhyme that much but it'll have to do!

Thank you for reviewing! I'm not really suffering from writer's block like my sister, but I am thinking of adding Marik and Ishizu (Isis) into my story soon and I don't have any ideas how they're going to pop up in the story. And I'm not sure whether if marik's still evil or not since this story takes place after Battle City. So you can either review with your own suggestions (like Laura) or email me on my profile.

Bye!


	19. The Aunt Nat Predicament

Hi guys! I'm sorry about the sentence in the past chapter:

**The code number was my membership number for the '**

It was supposed to be '**The code number was my membership number for the Beanie Baby Club I joined when I was 7**'.

**This chapter was supposed to be connected with Chapter 18! **

**Chapter 19**

**The Aunt Nat Predicament**

Okay, so basically I had made myself a fool once more in front of Yami unfortunately. I had completely wasted more than a hundred pounds on these clothes – for nothing – sort of. Yami had told me many times that he liked the 'new me' but somehow deep inside me I feel as though there was no need in doing so. But fortunately, Yami thought it was very sweet of me to change my style for him, and luckily I was rewarded for my troubles with a kiss on the cheek.

What?? It wasn't my fault I had bagged a book in the library to myself all about 'The Basic' and was reading and fumbling through pages looking through stunts and the characteristics, which many character's personality is rather, um….. difficult.

"_I can't do it." I whined to Duke one day before our 'big date'. "I can't learn it."_

"_Why not?" He asked. _

"_Because….. Because my mind's all cluttered up."_

_Duke raised an eyebrow. "Try and clear your mind." _

_I paused and concentrated hard. Clear my mind……… clear my mind………_

_What he didn't know was that tiny little replicas of Charybdis mini-me's were running around inside my brain holding their documents and reports. "It says here that Charybdis has difficulty learning a book off by heart." Charybdis No.1 said to Charybdis No.2 at the reception desk. _

_Then suddenly a Charybdis No.3 runs into the reception area carrying a file in her hand. "Order from the boss!! She thinks us to clear out her mind for the book! Get rid of everything!" _

"_Everything?"_

"_Not her name, Yami, her friends and her family though." _

"_Okay," Charybdis No.2 behind the reception desk screeches down the microphone, which is turned 'on'. "Get to work all you Charybdis'!!! The boss wants you all to make space for the book, destroy everything except from her name, Yami, her friends and family!!!"_

_Inside the Brain factory, the Charybdis workers are confused. "Well you heard Charybdis, get rid of her memories!"_

_And quickly the Charybdis workers gather all documents. One worker is getting rid of Charybdis' knowledge on Duel Master's down a shredder, another one is ripping apart Charybdis' knowledge for making apple pies. _

"_Hey you!" One manager shouts to a lower employee. "Get to work or you're sacked!"_

"_You can't sack me." The worker protests. "We're basically just what Charybdis is thinking what is taking part in her brain right now. We don't exist." _

Okay, that was weird….. If I had ordered my brain to memorise the whole book about 'The Basic', then why can't I remember anything from it??

For once I actually felt wanted in life. I actually felt special in Yami's arms. I didn't find it embarrassing to be seated on a bench hugging the Sex God for minutes. I think I was too over reactive though, and constantly sang happy nursery rhymes and guffawing like a total buffoon. The Sex God thought something had happened to me then.

"You're more cheerful than usual." He said.

I giggled, giggled some more and let go of him, then sat up on the bench and clasped my hands tightly together. "I think it's because of the fact that you're my boyfriend." I replied simply. "Well, let's get going, I don't wanna stay here all day, we have loads of other places to go to." And then I hauled him up with my gloved hands and we walked side by side to the Mall.

o

Yami and I were walking hand in hand around the mall browsing through shops. I must say I was the one who was being clingy and awfully cheery with him while he remained clam and cool. Yeah, we kissed and hugged several times too through breaks (lol). And were we afraid that someone might see us? Not really, the mall was practically mobbed with people on every floor, corridor, shop and even in the loo (toilets) and the baby changing unit. If Tristan or Mai saw us they'd probably think they've mistaken, but seriously, how many guys have you seen who has red, black and golden hair, and purple eyes??

"Chhhharrryyyybbbbddddiiiiissss!!!!"

I leapt up into the air that my hat almost fell off my head and my sunglasses had jittered down my eyes past my nose. I cringed at the sharp, piercing and unbearably loud sing-songy noise that had rang through my ears, and made everyone in the mall stop and look. EEK. Who is that??????

Yami blinked, as I turned round to face, to my horror….

"Remember me???" A middle aged woman clutching about 5 shopping bags from 'Primark', 'LittleWoods' and 'Ann Summers' with about 3 kids trotting behind her closely like a mother duck and its chicks all stopped in front of us. I blinked blankly. "Aiya, don't you remember?? I am Aunt Nat, whom is your mother's cousin. I visited here about 5 years ago, when you were only 11 years old. I heard that it was birthday a couple of days before, you're…. 17 now?? Waaah! Such a mature young lady you've grown!"

I slapped my forehead. Of course! How can I not forget?? (Well I did a minute ago) Aunt Nat who used to always kiss me with her horribly red lipsticked- fishy lips onto my cheeks while I struggled feebly under her nail polished fingers with the iron grip like superman. I felt the shivers as I recounted bad memories when she came over during holidays. She was the one who had all those annoying wee brats who were clinging onto her leg. Yes, from left to right; Ray, Michelle in the middle and this other little boy who she was probably babysitting. Ray grinned awfully at me and Michelle batted her eyelashes, lifting up her ugly Barbie doll at me as if she wanted me to kiss it already.

I smiled V-E-R-Y sweetly. YIKES!! Is there a hole where I can shove Yami into to avoid making the headlines of 'Family News Article 45'??? I just remembered that mum and dad had forbid me to see any males and now Aunt Nat is here she's going to blabber all this rubbish to them 24/7 this week about me!

I tried desperately to shake Yami's hand out of mine. But he made it even worse by kissing me on the cheek. I smiled at him in an extremely fake way, while inside my face was glaring at him angrily. But his hot features just made me melt again and I had forgiven him. I'm such a sucka. Okay, Charybdis, focus…… I left him to be bombarded with those brats from Hell as they 'oohed' and 'aahed' at him.

"Aren't you Yugi Moto??" Ray asked 'politely'.

Watch out Yami!! Ray's two faced, when you're not suspecting it, he'll kick you in the kneecap, like what he always does to me!! Even Aunt Nat focused her attention from me to Yami. "Wah!!! What a leng zai (translation – attractive young male – ooh!) ah!!"

I had the urge to get Yami out from there as quick as possible but stayed rooted away from them in the shadows watching him and Aunt Nat converse. Apparently they were conversing with each other rather – graciously as I thought they would not, judging by how Aunt Nat was nosy, self confident, self opinionated, loud and totally weird.

"How'd you like to have a short duel with my wee boy Ray?? He's admired you for quite some time." Aunt Nat said as she shoved Ray over.

Say No!! Say No Yami!!! I egged him secretly in my mind desperately.

"Why not?"

o

Watching my boyfriend duel with my annoying cousin from the sidelines of the duelling arena beside Aunt Nat carrying novelty flags saying 'Go Red!' or 'Go Blue!' – since not every flag were available with names on them the flags were printed with the colour of which field each player was on. Currently Ray was on the Red, and Yami on the Blue. I snatched a blue flag from the counter and waved it enthusiastically.

Kick young Ray's butt, Yami!!

I must say, Yami did a pretty good job of minimizing his proper duelling skills to match Ray's, but in the end he won anyway! Other people were gathering around the Mall's little duelling arena and watching Yami cream Ray. Funnily enough, Ray took his defeat gallantly. I thought he'd start screaming and stuff demanding for a rematch but he didn't. Very suspicious indeed…..

"So, what is your relationship??" Aunt Nat nudged me in the elbow as Yami and Ray shook hands.

I froze. What would I say?? What can I say?????? I gulped. "Yugi's my friend."

"Just a friend???" Aunt Nat said, her eyebrows rising up and down as she stared over at Yami who was making his way back over to us. "He's a rather good-looking friend."

I shuddered. Eew. Did she have the eye for Yami???? O.O; I nodded weakly in reply. "Yeah."

"But I – "

"Mum!!" Ray bounded back into the seats and leapt over to Aunt Nat. "Yugi gave me his signature!" I looked up. Right, so now Yami's turned into some sort of celebrity around our family news!!!

o

Aunt Nat left us shortly and returned home, after saying – "See you at Christmas Charybdis, nice meeting you, Yugi!" And then Ray put up a 'cutie cutie boy' act in front of us as he was forced to bid goodbye to me with a forced smile. God, he's already about 12 or something and still as immature when he was 8 years old.

Yami noticed that I was extra quiet as we walked back. "Charybdis, what's wrong?" He asked gently as we sat back down on the same bench this morning. I sighed and slumped down into my trench coat that the collar reached my fringe. "I told my aunt that you were a friend and only a friend."

He chuckled. "Is that all??"

I nodded meekly and then broke into tiny, raspy croaks and sobs. "I don't deserve your love, Yami!! I lied to my aunt that you were 'just a friend'!!! Oh the shame!!!" And then I buried myself into his chest, my face pasted onto his shirt like a stamp to an envelope. I didn't stop crying even when he put his arms around me tightly.

"There, there. Cry all you want." He hushed me and I was more than happy to oblige to do so, so I howled, louder and louder until I noticed people were starting to stare at us that I stopped. "I'm sorry Yami, I've been acting like a complete fool to you, should we get going now?"

For some reason I ended up crying and wailing again in Yami's arms a few minutes after. Why, do you ask? Because I bumped my forehead on a lamppost when I wasn't concentrating in front as we walked past Domino Square, and Yami had pulled me into his embrace and rubbing my forehead soothingly in a deserted corner.

"Does it still hurt?" He whispered to me when I didn't seem to quieten down after ten minutes.

I nodded again. "It still hurts!!" I wiped some forced-out tears from my eyes and giggled a little. Yami seemed to be playing along with my act as well since I spotted him grinning at me.

"Here." Yami reached over, tilted my head towards him a little and kissed my forehead lightly. "How's that?"

I sniffled a little, my cheeks turning a little red when I decided what to say to him. "It's still sore." I said, as I fingered the Millennium Puzzle's chain nonchalantly. This could be my advantage!

Yami placed a few more soft kisses on my forehead, tightened his grip and cuddled me closer, and after a few minutes later, I had plucked up enough courage and the strength to say to him as I lay in his arms: "You know, that isn't the only place where I hurt myself."


	20. Mysteries Ahead

**Chapter 20**

**Mysteries Ahead**

"What's with you?"

I smiled at my sweet big sister who was sitting at the dining room table with her psychology book in her lap and waltzed over to her as if I was walking on air. "I am fine my dear sister, why doY-O-U ask?" I said cheerfully as I took off my trench coat and hung it on the back of the seat opposite her, then taking a seat down myself.

Callista widened her eyes and looked confused at me. "Are you feeling alright??" She said suspiciously, eyeing me up and down.

"Of course not, I am feeling absolutely WONDERFUL!!!" I replied.

"Why are you wearing those clothes??" She pointed at my black top and at my sunglasses.

I broke my cheerful act and squirmed in my seat. "Well uh… I just err…."

"Were you on a date??"

I cringed. "Ow'd (How'd) ya know?!" I snorted at her in surprise.

Callista smiled. "I didn't, I just guessed, you told me."

Darn, she's good… Well, since she knows now, it's no point being stupid, so I decided to be bold and stand up to her. "Yes, I was, with Yami." I replied sternly, taking off my sunglasses and fingering it between my fingers, until they flew out from my hands like a rocket and fell on top over the eyes of our prized bronze coloured cat statue in the corner beside the telephone.

"So, how'd it go?" She asked me, as she began taking some notes down on a A4 size sheet of paper using a black pen. I averted my gaze from the statue, after thinking how nice the sunglasses actually looked there and turned back to her.

"It was alright, I suppose." I rested my chin in my hand where my elbow was propped up on the table. I thought for a while, right back to when we were in that deserted alleyway by ourselves… We weren't exactly like wild beasts tearing and throwing ourselves at each other wildly, we were more like mature, young adults (I'm not very sure if Yami is young, after all, he is a spirit, and Yugi told me once that he was a Pharaoh, so he's like, um…. Probably 4983 years older than me???), just in 'love' with each other and going out on a date, doing all the other things couples do. Sighs…. I've had wild dreams about this, I'd just never realised that this could actually be real…. Ahh, young love.

"Weren't you nervous? You know, about holding hands with him and kissing him etc?"

I paused. "Not really." I replied nonchalantly. "My hands were sweaty but my gloves helped me, and I put lipgloss over my lips so it's not really a big deal when Yami returns home with pink marks on his cheeks."

Callista looked impressed. "Wow, you've got your relationship under control, and this is like, your first day ah?"

I nodded.

"Good for you."

I waited for a while.

That's it?? Oh well, I suppose I won't get any more praise than that. Anyways, I got up from my seat and danced around our sofa, before noticing something unusual… very unusual…

"Where's grandma??" I asked surprisingly. It was suddenly very quiet without Grandma's loud voice in the quiet house. Mum and dad were mostly away from home at the Health Clinic and Callista was mostly studying all the time so it felt somehow still, relaxing…. And peaceful.

"Oh, she's at her new Shrine, hanging around there with other current priestesses and other people. Oh, and did you here?? A new shop has opened up at town, it sells artefacts, look what I got!" Callista fimbled under her shirt and pulled out a small, dangly gold pendant. "I got this for £20, wasn't that a bargain? You outta go sometime, they've got loads, they're awfully purty (pretty)."

I glanced over at the thing Callista held in her hands and gasped. It looked similar to my pendant, the one Yami gave me, of course mine looked better, Callista's one was quite small, but a lot smoother and shiny than me. It had less decoration, but felt more heavy when she allowed me to take a closer look.

"Where did you get this again??"

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Hey, that pendant Yugi got you looks like your sister's." Tea touched Callista's pendant in her pink palm gently, and then glanced over at mine. "They sort of do look alike, in a way. Both look old but pretty." She swooned.

I was feeling and thinking the total opposite. Does that mean that Yami got me this pendant from a cheap shop for only £20??? Still, I did feel grateful though, the chain Yami got me was beautiful; I had decided to use it as a good luck charm and constantly wore it under my pink uniform at school to avoid attention. Currently I was sitting beside Tea outside on the non-wet parts of the fountain during interval.

"Callista told me she got in a shop just downtown beside MK One." I replied back to her as she handed me both pendants to me.

"Why don't we check it out then, like, after school?? I also heard they sold trading cards, maybe Yugi and Joey would like to come with us?"

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Our small group of four stood in front of the dark looking shop with a millennium eye symbol on the board uneasily. I was standing in the front, looking at the open sign in front of the closed door, which had no windows and gulped. "Y-You go in first, Joey." I said quickly and I darted behind him and pushed him towards the door.

Joey looked as nervous as I did. The whole shop seemed to be surrounded in a nasty presence. He backed away a little. "Haven't ya heard of ladies first?? You go in, Tea." And then he pushed Tea up. She snorted and straightened her skirt down as she remained still beside Yugi who was looking quite puzzled about the whole idea. Tea placed her hands on her hips. "You guys are chicken." And she pushed the door open. "There's nothing to be afraid of, its fine…(a draft of cold wind blows around us as we hide behind her and makes our hair on our necks stand on end) in here….." She finished dryly.

We walked in. The door slammed shut instantly and we were engulfed in darkness. I screamed and ran to the nearest person/thing whom I found blindly which was Joey since I could feel his messy hair as I tried to make out who it was. He 'yowed' loudly and detached my clingy hand off from his hair. "Ouch! That's attached, ya know??"

I apologised and clung onto him as we tried to make our way over to the entrance where small strip of light was visible from the slightly opened door. "Where's Tea and Yugi?"

"Over here."

The sound of something scratching quickly against wood broke through the deathly silence and a light flickered on dully in the dark room. I noticed that I had been clinging onto Joey's waist as we had moved and let go when I noticed that his face had gone red from the lack of oxygen. Yugi and Tea were at different corners of the room clutching some weird statues for support. We all looked at each other, and then looked at the person holding the mouldy, white candle at the back of the room.

"Welcome," She said. "To Ishtar Artefacts. How may I help you??"

We all blinked at the woman with dark black hair wearing a sort of dull, dusty beige coloured robe and sandals.

"Ishizu??" Yugi, Tea and Joey said in unison, while I remained still blinking like a fool.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

More introductions were made, and I found out, no, we all found out that Ishizu, Marik's older sister had moved from Egypt with him (unfortunately he wasn't there at the shop at moment) back to Domino. Apparently I had heard of Ishizu and Marik. Why, Ishizu is that sweet, caring older female sibling of Marik's, and himself? An evil psycho bent on taking over the world and taking Yami's place of Pharaoh. That's what I heard from Tristan and the rest, but apart from that evil psycho thing because I just thought he was more like one.

Oh, and the scary atmosphere the shop had ignited once we got in?? The shop had a slight power cut, and luckily Ishizu managed to get a few candles she'd taken from her home (I found out that she lived in this underground cellar, or was it a basement??) and lit them all up the place that we managed to see the artefacts on sale closer.

Yugi swapped over to Yami, and he had a short conversation with her. For some reason Yami glanced over to me occasionally and I pretended not to notice and hung around with Joey. I wonder if Yami told her that we were dating….

A few minutes later........

Ishizu was inspecting my pendant when I had asked her a couple of questions about it. "No, I have never seen this pendant in my shop before, wherever you have consumed it, it is in extremely good condition."

"Really??" I asked, feeling a little interested as I glanced back down at the pendant in her hands.

She nodded a little. "Yes. May I ask where you got it?"

I 'pulled' Ishizu into a corner. "You know the Pharaoh, right??" I glanced over at Yugi (they both swapped over again).

She looked at me.

"Well he gave me it for my birthday, you see, him and I are…. Sort of… dating." I felt that I could trust Ishizu with our little secret. Ishizu didn't seem like the type of person who blabbed things out uncontrollably like Aunt Nat.

I thought I saw her freeze for a while. "You – and the Pharaoh???"

I nodded. She seemed a little quiet, before a small smile broke across her lips. "I see, well then, I wish you both the best of luck with your relationship." I guess she didn't really know we were together.

I said my thanks and walked back over to Tea who also wanted to buy one of the pendants for sale. For some reason I felt extremely uneasy with Ishizu, she was normal, but the intense stare I received from her was somehow uncomfortable. Even when we left she was still looking at me. I shuddered a little; maybe I should give it some time.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

A few days later…

Our class had the chance to organise our own Christmas party, and I was overjoyed. This would be my first Christmas with my friends in Domino!! We all gathered round Tea, since she was the 'captain' of this whole thing and already had a plan for it. She hung it up on the notice board by our cloakroom and peered at it. Tea turned round to face us.

"Well guys, what do you think?" She asked proudly as she presented us the drawn out plan.

We all stared. Yugi in front, me behind him, using his head as an arm rest (I took my arm off and apologised). Joey beside me on the left, Ryou on my right, and Tristan and Duke peeping out from behind. The plan looked awfully complicated. There was going to be trees with fairy lights all over the place, tinsel covered bowls, snowman sculptures made from paper mache, net lights over the windows of doors, more fairy lights hung up on the wall, mistletoe at every corner of the gym hall where the party was going to take place and a small DJ stand was going to be at the corner beside the statue of Santa.

We blinked and swooned "Wow, it looks great." Was all we could say.

Then suddenly, from a small corner of my ears, I heard a faint, slow and mournful voice wave through me when a deathly silence had pushed over our small crowd. It was a sort of, desperate and breathless, sounded really creepy, deep and muffled.

_Help me.... please...._

There it was again.

_Please..... I need help....._

Okay the voice is still talking!! Why isn't it stopping after one sentence?? EH? Oh well, that's what usually happens to people who hear voices in their head......

_Can you..... help me??_

_Who.... are you?_

I blinked, and then turned round to face them all. "Did someone say something???" I asked them questioningly.

Joey looked confused, so did the rest. "What are you talking about, Gurlie?? No-one sed anything."

Hmmm… I shrugged. Maybe I was just tired nowadays.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Ooooh, there you have it. The first hint of something sinister coming upfor Charybdis! Sighs, my poor OC, I'm torturing her!! Well, stay tuned for the next chapter, all new readers are welcome (I just noticed that lol) and I'm on the record of getting more than 100 reviews now! Thank you, bye!


	21. Christmas Blues

Okay, so the main article everyone is (probably) wondering about my story is if Charybdis is basically me, Fish And Chips??

Well, the answer is yes and no. Charybdis is just a character I have conjured up with a mixture of different personalities and mixed together with a teensy drop of babyish and annoying characteristics. Of course I have analysed Charybdis' character using the wonderful method of….

**Mind Maps!**

Charybdis is a girl (duh), but could be anyone. She is just someone in my mind who I have created, you could think of her as yourself even, if you wish. Since this story is based off a teenager's diary, I thought it was best if this story was set from my OC's view, you could take a walk in her shoes, 'experience' her experiences, get to know her better and to think how we in reality get on with our lives, minus the Yu-Gi-Oh characters and the shadow Realm etc. I just wanted to try and make a story up with them in it, but at the same time concentrate on teenagers (which I am myself) as well. LOL.

Think of Domino High as your own school, Yami as your boyfriend (lol), Joey and the rest as your own friends, Charybdis' home as yours, and her family etc. In Chapter 1, I gave a description of Charybdis, but that was what I firstly wanted Charybdis to look like, I am a crap drawer but I have managed to visualize her features in my mind. However the more I wrote this story, it seemed that this story was starting to drift away from our teenage life and into a story with a teenager in it, and the more I believed that Charybdis was more than one person – if you get what I mean.

Charybdis, is not me, I enjoyed creating her character and played scenes in my head. I actually wanted my story to be published as a manga or a TV series, lol! The only thing I think Charybdis and I have in common is that we are both lazy (lol) and we both lack common sense (I mean that too!).

**Chapter 21**

**Christmas Blues**

**Christmas Eve:**

Little note: Decided to continue writing dateless entries for new diary of 2005. New diary of mine is just a black, leather plain, boring fat book mum bought for me from WHSmith while browsing through shelves. Unfortunately past diary is only a quarter full. Decided to try and write about half of entries in new diary and keep a small page in my diary for New Year Resolutions. Here are mine:

Snog (kiss) Yami breathless before Christmas under the mistletoe.

Hmm, I taped my chin with the pen. How about:

Snogging Yami breathless at Christmas under the mistletoe

Or just plain:

Go and snog Yami breathless before Christmas under the mistletoe

Anyways, I decided to just stick with 'Snog Yami breathless before Christmas under the mistletoe', and continued on with my task. Other New Year resolutions I wrote them down in my new diary and once again pondered for a while.

Lose one or two stone(s)

Study everyday

Do well in exams

Make new friends if possible

Give presents to all my friends at Christmas (not including Seto Kaiba)

Eat less junk food

Eat more healthy food

Keep Yami as my boyfriend for over at least a year or more

And lastly, I added in:

Try to keep to Resolutions

**Christmas day:**

At home, dad, mum, Callista and grandma are at home greeting the visitors – all my uncles, aunties and annoying cousins are currently at my home trashing up my room which is unluckily unlocked (I forgot to lock it, sighs, I'll have to clean it up tomorrow). And me? I am in the school hall standing in the deserted corridor that is in darkness since the only lights are open in the hall where our year is and in Rm101, which is the chemistry lab.

Watching other couples dance around, stay together in little duos tightly in each other's embrace, kiss and hug just made me realise how lonely I was in this little spot. I craned my head over to look at the flashes of blinding light from the spotlights on the ceiling from the corner. I had taken refuge from all the love into a small deserted corridor by the janitor's closet and sighed. I felt unhappy that I couldn't share my Christmas with Yami tonight. It was already 7:30pm, an hour and a half later. The party started at 6pm and Yami came to collect me at my house where my parents had agreed to let me go to the school party with my friends, but I had agreed to come back at 8pm.

I've only got thirty minutes left and I'm still not enjoying myself. Humph, and I still haven't kissed Yami breathless yet under the mistletoe. I haven't given presents to anyone yet either. Humph. This is not going as the way I had planned it to be. Humph, I can see Tea and Yugi under the mistletoe. Humph, I can see Tristan and Joey having a good time giving cheek to the teacher before our holidays. Humph, I can see Ryou and Duke both talking to girls in big groups at each corner. Humph, everyone's forgotten about me. Humph…. I don't like that thought!!

Humph, I lay sulking in the corner fiddling with my beaded net shawl over my jeans after thinking how much effort I had given into getting dressed for the party…

4pm: Goes up to bedroom after returning home from school. Takes off uniform and throws into wardrobe.

4:04pm: Sits on bed in undergarments pondering for a while. Door is locked, light is switched on.

4:25pm: Manages to get myself of from bed and walk over to open wardrobe.

4:25-4:30pm: Stares at clothes.

4:31pm-4:45pm: Thinking what to wear.

4:45-4:47pm: Still thinking….

4:49-4:58pm: Still thinking after skimming with my eyes through heaps and heaps of unfolded clothes.

5 pm-5:15pm: Ransacks through heaps of clothes in search of jeans. Locate pink, embroidered denims under a load of pants and vests. Sees dirty stain over bum. Throws back into pile saying 'NO' and searches for something else. Finds slightly flared dark blue denims with nice, red coloured net-like shawl over side like a long belt with little beads on it and puts it on.

5:20-5:35pm: Cannot find matching top. Gets out from room after unlocking door and heads to bathroom. Looks through dirty clothes stacked on bathroom's edge and finds nothing. Goes back into room and aaackk!! Just remembers nice reserved top for today is in wash!

5:34-5:46pm: Look for underwear only to find out that I'm wearing them already! D'oh!! Try desperately to find top. Finds horrible pink sweater and pulls it on. Looks at mirror and pull back off again. Then find a creamy white, tight top and pull it over. Bingo!

5:50-5:55pm: Am in deep trouble now. Yami is going to collect me at 6 and have not even brushed teeth or combed hair yet. Runs to bathroom to find that dad is occupying it.

5:56pm-5:58pm: Runs to WC only to find Mum there. Runs back up to En-Suite bathroom and combs hair, brushes teeth quickly and washes face by splashing water over me. Goes back into bedroom and slips on Yami's pendant.

6pm-6:05pm: Doorbell has rung. Oh god oh god oh god oh god. Yami is here. Kicked Callista's bum downstairs from her room to help me stall – again. Mum and dad also going downstairs to help me stall for time. Grandma is at Shrine.

6:08-6:12pm: Tries to locate bag. Found socks easily, but found bag in Callista's room only to find that she has been using it lately and that it's stuffed with her things.

6:15pm-6:20pm: really late now. Callista hisses to me to hurry up and 'Yami's waiting'. Speeds up my pace and ends up tripping down stairs.

"OOOF!! AHHH!! EEK!! YOOOW!!! OWWW! OOOH!!"

Followed by a 'thump', bong', 'weee', 'fwaaaa' and 'crack!' then finally I breathed; "I'm okay… really." BAM!

6:22pm-6:25pm: Rushes into room to find Yami already standing up to see if I was okay. Smiles sweetly at him and says 'I'm fine', but checks myself secretly and think I've broken my back. Secretly wincing as I'm putting boots on.

6:30pm-6:45pm: Walking beside Yami awkwardly while apologising. Back hurts terribly, feet hurts too, neck hurts as well.

6:47-6:50pm: Goes into dark empty alleyway with Yami and kiss for a moment, before breaking off reluctantly when seeing how late we were. Yami seemed rather disappointed that we couldn't kiss for longer. Reached school where disco lights are flashing through windows.

See?? See how much effort I tried to, ah?? But in the end we ended up being one hour late, and I found it really embarrassing when we came in, since everyone had already been here ages ago. Then everyone came up to us, and dragged us off into the hall where Yami changed back into Yugi for the moment since Tea wanted to dance with him so I'm all alone………

Well, not really, the leftover guys and me all walked off in our own little group after seeing Tea and Yugi both dancing with other students. Then we talked and you know, went to the buffet table filled with all sorts of food and cadies and stuffed our faces full. Then we all went our separate ways.

"Joey, where are you going?" I asked him as he sauntered away. He turned and faced me. "I'm just going to Rm101, they say some kids are holding duels there. See you later."

I didn't even know Rm101 was unlocked right now, let alone having several duelists looking for a scrap with others there. Well when they duel against Joey their definitely gonna lose to him.

"You too, Tristan?" I asked as the brown haired boy took off after Joey. He nodded. "Yup Happy Boo, Joey needs my support." And then he followed Joey into the room where the lights were on and I saw some students holding cards in their cards.

"What about you, Duke?" I asked him. He rested his chin in his hand and pondered. "I think I'll check out the ladies. Again." He waved to me and set off.

And Ryou?? Well he was at the buffet table and I decided to join him, so we had a couple of minutes of conversation until this girl asked him to dance.

It's already like, 7:40pm, huh?? I've only got 20 minutes left, and still no sign of Yami. Suddenly I got the feeling that I was all by myself. Alone at Christmas when I've got a nice boyfriend. I sighed, after hearing the song suddenly change to the slow, upbeat and boring but romantic song and instantly I felt more insulted, even when the DJ said: "This song is for couples only."

I took my back off from leaning against the wall and peeped out from a small corner to look at the current situation at the dance floor. I cannot locate Tea anywhere. I can see Joey sitting beside himself… all alone like me and had the urge to go up to him and ask him for a short dance, but then a girl beat me to it and I sulked more. I even spotted Duke, Ryou and Tristan dancing and felt ignored. I didn't even notice them creeping back up to the hall. So then I decided to creep over to them. The next song came on and everyone returned back. I spotted Tea and Yugi coming over and once felt as though the whole gang was active and together again.

"Wanna dance, Gurlie?" Joey asked me, holding his hand to me.

I shrugged. "Okay then!"

And we danced for a while (thankfully it was a fast song), before all the others came up and we all danced with each other. And we were also 'thrown back into time' at the Halloween party, where we were all having the time of our lives and laughing, playing, getting on each other's nerves. We exchanged presents finally. I received jewellery from Tea, and mostly chocolates from the boys. I also gave each of them chocolates too, Quality Streets and Milk Trays.

A few minutes later we all sat down on chairs exhausted. I got up and left the group and went to the toilets. Afterwards I exited the toilets noticing how dark it was in the empty corridor and shrugged. Then continued walking with my hands in my pockets.

_Help me……._

_Please…. Who are you?? Can you help me??_

The voice was getting more and more clearer now. I froze, listening to see if it would come again but it didn't. What I didn't know, was that someone had crept up from behind me stealthily and quickly, and then two hands shot out and encircled my waist tightly. I 'eeked' as his voice breathed into my ear.

"Why so alone?"

I sighed, rolled my eyes and then glanced over at the side, trying to look at him but failed since my neck hurt from the fall back at home. "Shouldn't Yugi be in your place?"

"Do you want Yugi to swap over?" Yami teased, he began to nuzzle my neck and I squirmed a little but alas, his hold was too tight on me and I had the feeling that he didn't want me to let go this time. I was thinking of saying 'Stop that' to him.

"…… No." I replied glumly, and then I hung my head down low, my body sort of hung limp in his arms as well.

"Good, may I have this dance?"

I froze again, and then tried to turn over to face him but it hurt my back this time so I remained there, staring and thinking into space. But happiness was welling inside me already. "Yes yes yes!!" And I pulled him into position and began dancing. Yami chuckled. "Slow down."

So I did. I looked around us, hoping that no one was here. The whole corridor was empty, everyone was either preoccupied with their partners or either eating or talking. Tea was dancing around with Tristan; everyone seemed to have swapped partners. He grunted and suddenly I realised that I had stepped on his foot – with my high-heeled boots (the heel is approximately three inches high and two inches thick, poor dude….).

I cringed. "S-Sorry….."

He smiled reassuringly to me. "No, it's alright, I am fine."

Somehow I stepped onto his foot again and saw him wince even though he didn't say anything. Maybe he didn't want to spoil my mood?? I sulked again though, due to the fact because he didn't want to me to feel bad although I already feel bad, and soon burst into tears.

"What's wrong?" He asked me questioningly.

I sniffled. "I can't dance!!"

"And??"

"Well, I-I can't dance, what else??" I cried out hastily, and then I pushed myself against him and dug my face into his chest. Somehow I got the feeling that I was always crying in front of him. He chuckled again. He was really happy that I was practically throwing myself at him – which I wasn't. I've been making myself feel stupid in front of him. I howled and wailed, and he then he scooped my face up to his and kissed me on my forehead. I sniffled, and then broke off, giggling a little.

"Am I always annoying you?" I asked him quietly.

"No, I like the way you are, you are Charybdis; you are MY Charybdis." He said with a cheeky grin.

I blushed furiously and then let go of him. "I'm sorry for crying like that." I mumbled awkwardly, shuffling my feet. And then I sort of turned round to the door scratching my head. We both stood opposite each other in silence for a while.

I looked at him.

He looked at me.

I didn't stop looking at him.

He didn't stop either.

I bit my lip, then looked at my palms, and thought for a while, whether to do this was right or wrong. But afterwards felt as though I couldn't give a damn and flung my arms around him tightly without warning, my lips finding its way to his face and I began to plant long, trailing kisses over his face like a vacuum cleaner and he sort of backed a little, clearly not expecting this to happen. Well, I brought my own mistletoe and se this as one of my New Year Resolution, who can blame me??

Unfortunately I just remembered the book Callista gave me waaaaay back before, _The 67_ _Techniques of Kissing_, and wished that I had at least read more of it.

But then he succumbed quicker (only about one second later) than I had thought, and responded back to me like the way I had earlier. We weren't exactly like wild beasts tearing at each other but our hands were around each other closely as if we didn't want to let go of each other for years to come; mine around his neck and into his hair, his around my waist and I felt cosy and comfortable, and happy to be in his warm embrace. Our lips pressed around each other's passionately, we were sort of trying to go into a more private place at the same time while kissing but ended up walking together entangled in each other's embrace.

I bumped into the windowframe and winced. "Ouch…" I muttered as I detached my lips off his. He tightened his grip over me and chuckled audibly. I could practically feel his breathe over me and shivered. "Can we go to someplace else?? It's really uncomfortable here." I moaned. He didn't take his hands off from my waist. "Of course."

We walked around the empty corridor trying to find a place for some more privacy until halfway there Yami was already impatient and just grabbed me into an empty toilet cubicle of the ladies toilets. I cringed. "Yami." I hissed. "You're not supposed to be in here. This the female's toilet."

"I don't care." He murmured and then began to attack my neck with the power of his intense affectionate kisses. "As long as we're alone."

I made a weird noise. "Ow… I think you bit me." I said softly when I felt a slight pain on the side of my neck where Yami was currently working on.

"I was intending to do that." He replied.

I cringed. "Oh." I looked around our surroundings. It was awfully small, but private, Yami was practically all over me and his back was near the opposite wall. Then suddenly I heard this noise. I stopped him and he let go of me.

"Do you…. Hear that??" I whispered.

Yami paused and listened. There was a gentle thud of footsteps coming nearer and nearer our cubicle. I froze, then raising a shaky hand, I unlocked the door slowly and silently as possible; Yami watched me as if I was doing a stunt from Mission Impossible as I pushed the tab back, and then the door creaked as I turned the knob. I stopped instantly and the door stopped creaking. The footsteps also stopped too. We both glanced over at each other. Yami gave me a brief nod, so I continued onto the knob again. Turned it; it made another creak and I stopped again, but then turned it quickly that it didn't get the chance to creak.

Then I slowly, very slowly, poked my head over the door and froze. It was Tea. She was at the basin up a few 'cubicles' and just opposite some toilets. Luckily the cubicle we were in was at the end and she was at the middle basin opposite the middle toilet, about to open the taps and wash her hands.

I pulled back quickly and shut the door behind me quietly, then locked it again and it gave a slight 'click' noise. The noise would've been quiet mostly but because it was so quiet it was loud, extremely loud, like a coin dropping onto the floor and clattering non-stop. I held a palm over Yami's mouth to stop his laboured breathing. Was kissing really a sport?? I was sweating like mad, Yami seemed quite red in the face and blinked, and then I covered my own mouth with my other hand.

The taps closed, and we heard Tea walk over to the dryer and press the button where the loud dryer blew. We relaxed a little as the dryer blocked out all possible noise we emitted, and we both looked at each other again. I raised an eyebrow, hinting. He got the idea and pressed his lips back onto mine again.

Until the dryer stopped, I tried to get out from his arms again but he clung onto me too tight this time that I actually almost sat on the toilet. Clearly he did not want us to stop right now. I was more than happy to oblige to do so.

I heard Tea open the door and shut the door, leaving us to peace and I breathed a sigh of relief as I managed to pull Yami off me for a minute and grinned. "Phew that was close." I looked back at Yami again. "I think we should get out of here, it (sniffs for a couple of seconds) really stinks in here."

Yami nodded. "It's getting late."

We both clambered out from the toilet and opened the door to be in utter darkness. Our eyes had to adjust to the dark after just coming out from a bright light and we managed to make it back to the corridor we were about twenty minutes ago.

Help me… 

I paused in my tracks, and turned round to face the dark corridor we just walked past. There was an eerie silence, and the corridor sort of rumbled, the darkness seemed to spread around me quickly and I turned to Yami nervously.

"Did…. You hear that??" I asked him curiously.

He looked at me. "No…. I didn't hear anything…."

_Help me…. Please…._

"I just heard it again!" I said.

Yami looked serious. "What did you hear, Charybdis?"

"It's this woman…. Or something, I can make out what she's saying. It's…. it's 'help me please'." I replied to him.

He put his hand around me. "How long have you been hearing this voice??"

"I…. It's been going on for… weeks, since we went to Ishizu's shop… its…" I spotted how solemn Yami looked and faked a laugh resulting in a sore throat. "It's nothing, really, I think its because I'm tired lately. Really."

Yami softened a little. "Charybdis, you must tell me, we'll help you."

"No, really, I'm fine!"

We both walked back to the hall in silence. I tried to keep my happy face on, but that voice… that creepy voice just keeps ringing in my head. I hugged Yami tightly. "You don't have to be worried about me."

"Charybdis….."

I nodded. "I'll be fine, I'll make sure. Oh yeah…. Um….. I love you, Yami." I said quietly; a blush swimming back over my cheeks as I said that.

Yami held me close. "I love you too, Charybdis." He kissed my forehead lightly, and then we both let go. He changed back into Yugi. "Charybdis, what are you doing here? Why aren't you with the others?" He asked me.

"Oh, I just had er… to step out for some fresh air, and then I just bumped into Yami." I replied quickly, wiping off my blush quickly.

"Oh, are you coming or not?"

"I'll be there, you don't have to wait for me."

Yugi nodded and ran back to the hall, where I stood facing he dark corridor behind me again.

Please…. Can you help me??? 

Who are you? What do you want with me?

_I need help…. From you…._

o

I didn't tell Yami anything about hearing the voice again as we walked hand in hand back home. It was awfully quiet during our journey. I looked around us at the amazingly lit up neighbourhood where Santa's were hanging off chimneys and light up snowmen littered the gardens.

As soon as we got back, Yami pulled me into my dark backyard and we kissed. I didn't feel shy, but proud – sort of and placed my arms around his neck again. Right now my brain had switched off all the other knowledge that I know and had only concentrated on one thing – French kiss! He dug a sensual kiss over my lips with his, making sure every part of my mouth was pressed and nibbled tenderly. When he succumbed to my affection; I decided to try it out. I gently drove the tip of my tongue over his lips and he made this slight grunt and (I couldn't stop but giggle) opened his mouth to some extent for me to fully explore inside, but before I could even get to it: We ended up almost crashing down on the floor before I even got to the part (boo-hoo!) since we had nothing to lean on; Yami had taken several steps back with me in his arms against his chest making me have to deepen the kiss once more, and we had to immediately broke the passionate French kiss (I was very reluctant) or face the consequences of the rock, hard floor – I wondered how Yami felt at that moment….

Then suddenly, something landed on top of my head. I shrieked and he stepped back.

"Arghhhh!! Something's got my hair!! Something's got my hair!!! Get it off my fringe!! Get it off me!!" I shrieked frantically as I started to scratch at the top of my head desperately to get the unknown object off.

Yami sweat dropped as he saw me flail wildly around and kicking, and then, just by reaching over, he pulled something green out. He inspected the small shrub and smirked. I gawked at it in his fingers.

"Mistletoe??" I said questioningly, cocking my head to the side. "Where'd that come from????"

Then the porch light flickered on and we broke apart immediately. Callista and several of my annoying cousins were shining torches at us to light up more of the scene and I hissed in anger, and then began chasing them around and we were soon playing the game 'Tag' or 'Tig'. To make matters worse, Michelle forced me to kiss her dolly.

"EURGH!! I'm no dolly kisser!!" I yelled back at her.

"Charybdis kiss my dolly now!! KISS HER KISS HER KISS HER KISS HER KISS HER KISS HER!!!!!!" She screamed hysterically.

"OKAY!!! OKAY!!! Just, please… stop shouting!!"

I waved to Yami as he left, quickly pecked him on the cheek before anyone could notice and returned back to the house when he waved back to me. Something white floated past us, and then some more, and more, until it covered our heads. Everyone looked up. It was snowing!! I cheered again and threw my hands up above me smiling like a lunatic. It looked so elegant…. How the small particles of ice just danced and blew around us all, landing gracefully on the ground and then melting into nothingness.

I walked back inside the house only to be bombarded with my cousins who were smiling at me. Mum, dad and my other relatives were standing around the table. Callista was talking to Aunt Lin and her husband Uncle Steven. They all greeted me and I had to greet them politely back. "Well uh…. I'm going back to my room." I said and I made my way to the door before those brats all crowded around me.

"Wasn't that Yugi Moto?" They asked me.

I shook my head. "No, now leave me alone." And I nudged hem away from me and trudged up the stairs only to have them follow me.

"Who was that guy then?"

"None of your business." I replied. I stopped at my room, seeing that the door was shut. Did Callista help me lock it before I left?? Probably. Suddenly Jon and Don by my side shifted their feet uncomfortably. "Well we're going back to downstairs for some food." And they ran away. Then followed by Shannon who ran down after them, and then Michelle held up her Barbie doll clutched in her hands protectively. Ray blinked at me.

"I don't think you should go in there."

I paused. "Why not?" I asked them. "It's my room." Something fishy is in the air, and it's not the cod I've 'preserved' to come back alive 2000 years later in a block of ice in the freezer downstairs either.

So I turned the knob and opened it. Then switched the light on, and screamed and screamed and screamed and screamed. Ray and Michelle covered their ears. I stopped, my eyes popped out and Mum ran to the hall.

"Charybdis what's wrong?"

I froze at the very sight. My cupboards were all open, some stuff were on the floor, my diary lay shut (the key is in my pocket), my stationery kicked all over the floor, my duvet falling off the bed, the window half open, the curtains drawn messily, some of my stuff were missing, my homework jotters over my desk was scribbled over in red crayons and pens, my bag was on the floor – all the contents tipped out……..

……………

…………..

…………..

This time I felt that Michelle and Ray were on my side. They glanced at each other. "Are you okay?" They asked nervously.

I clenched my fists. "JON, DON, SHANNON, YOU'RE GONNA GET IT NOW!!!!" And I ran downstairs. Oh well, people say you should forgive one another on Christmas, and I very reluctantly had to once mum caught up with me and hissed in my ear that I shouldn't fight with them today.

Sighs…. I'll get them on Boxing Day then. Merry Christmas everyone!

With love from Charybdis and her family, and their creator, Fish And Chips! Happy Holidays! XXX 


	22. The Mother and Father Project

**Hi ppl! Tiny wee note about this chapter, the shopping list is a little wonky since can't seem to submit millions of spaces from words in the Document manager/Quick Edit! Sorry, hope it doesn't confuse everyone!**

**Chapter 22**

**The Mother and Father Project**

The next day, I tumbled out from my room in my uniform and ran down the stairs, combing my hair and buttoning up the blazer at the same time. "Oh my god I'm so late late late!!!" I cried desperately as I flung my bag and socks onto the couch, before running into the kitchen to the breakfast table. Mum was in the kitchen making my breakfast and she sighed. "Charybdis, honestly, didn't you set up your alarm clock for 7am? It's already quarter to eight." She said as she handed me a sandwich container and bag containing my… sandwich – Durr!

I stuffed my sandwich into my school bag and hitched it over my shoulder, then straightened my pink uniform out. "I know, I know, I'll see you after soon, okay?" I placed my feet into my skates and whizzed over to the side door, opened it and carefully walked down the step, then skated quickly outside.

I can't really believe Yami and I have only been dating for a couple of weeks. Joey and Mai's relationship seems tight, they both practically crazy after one another. Yugi and Tea's relationship is also going pretty well – they both were childhood friends anyway. You know, the more I think about it, Yami and I had only properly interacted for just a couple of months. I only 'met' Yami when I found out that I could see him in spirit form. Maybe our relationship wasn't strong enough yet, since I had only met him for a year. I felt somehow unhappy, thinking how this puny year could never match for being together with him for several years. Maybe I should get to know him better.

I sighed, and then decided to concentrate on something else.

The voice inside my head is definitely NOT a 1) hallucination, 2) A trick or 3) Any of the following. The voice is growing stronger and louder each day, and I can hear it really, really loud. And it only says 'Please help me' and 'Who are you', and it's getting frustrating. Maybe I should try and think of a way to contact it?? It's also getting on my nerves. "Who are you?" and "can you help me?" and also "I need your help please." BAH!!! I have tried every possible way of blotting out the voice but it keeps coming and coming.

The voice belongs to a female.

o

The class seemed really dull today. Most people were lazing in their seats, and thankfully I wasn't late, the teacher was late. I climbed into my seat and waited patiently, looking around my surroundings and glanced over at Yugi who was talking with Joey and Tristan in their seats. "Hi guys." I said to them.

They greeted me back and engagement of conversation was on. Then the teacher came in eventually after five or ten minutes and we returned to our seats. "Right class, please open your organisers please, I wish to do a double check." The teacher said, and we all pulled out our bags and presented the school organisers.

I looked at the foggy window, tapping my pencil against the desk absentmindedly while the teacher checked every single student to see if his or her organiser was signed or not. I glanced at my almost visible reflection. I could see the outline of my face properly; my eyes and nose, my hair, and then I paused.

Were my eyes green before?

I blinked, my reflection blinked, her eyes still the dark, greeny coloured. I also found it weird, even though it was my reflection; this is no mirror so the colour couldn't be reflected….. SO WHY CAN I SEE RED????

I froze, turned away and concentrated on the front. Okay, be calm, Charybdis….. stay clam…. I looked back slowly to the window, and saw that my reflection had turned back to normal.

EH???

o

I eyed myself funnily in the bathroom, raising my eyebrows, doing some more facial expressions but my eyes DID NOT change colour. It was still the boring brown colour, like the bark of a tree and the colour of mud. Great. This is actually starting to freak me out. I waddled back downstairs luckily enough to bump into Grandma who had just returned home from her Shrine duties.

"Grandma!" I chirped cheerfully as she came in the hall. "I want to ask you something." She took off her sandals and opened the living room door. "Karidis, what is wrong?" She asked me. We sat beside each other on the sofa and I looked at my fingers that lay on my lap. "Well um….. I want to ask you – no, tell you something."

Grandma blinked. "You can tell me anything."

I decided to keep my mouth shut, and then she gave me this looooooooong speech about spirits and the other stuff I found that it did not seem to help me at all.

I stepped out from the bath and dried myself with the towel and wrapped it around me, before going over to retrieve my contacts. I held them in between my slightly dry fingers and then walked back over to the mirror on the wall, noticing how steamy it had become from the hot atmosphere and I wiped the vapour off with my hands at eye level, before I shrieked loudly and stumbled back a little.

I stared at my reflection. The green, dull eyes had returned. I raised a shaky hand and wiped off the remaining vapour covering the reflection of my face. Quickly stuffing my contacts in my eyes, I blinked at the girl who was standing before me in the mirror. She blinked in response. I couldn't believe it. I was staring at myself, but I looked different than normal, the one in the mirror had the same hair as me, black and messy as ever but had those dark sea green eyes. She did look like me, except that she seemed more serious, and rather impassive. Her dark eyes stood out more than me and her lips were a little paler.

"You…. You are the one who has been calling to me the past few day?" I babbled out awkwardly.

My reflection nodded and I stiffened when I felt my head nod in unison with her. "Yes, I need your help." She replied impassively. Her voice was barely above a whisper, that I strained to hear, and managed to pick out: "Yes, I need a belt." HUH?

"Well duh, you've been telling me that all the time, just what – how can I help you? What do you want?" I asked her.

"I believe you and I are connected in some way." She replied.

"Connected?? In what ways?"

"Telepathically and spiritually. I can speak to you with my thoughts, and you can hear me in your mind."

"But how? Who are you??" I asked her eagerly.

"I am – "

KNOCK KNOCK!!

I paused; I averted my gaze from the mirror to the door, then back at the mirror and gasped. The girl had left my reflection and I was once staring back at myself again. I frowned, and then turned to the door. "What??" I asked impatiently. "Who is it?"

I heard Callista's voice. "Charybdis, are you okay?? It's me, Callista." She asked me worriedly.

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" I asked, looking back at my reflection again.

"Because you were talking to yourself in a weird language."

o

Grandma asked me if I heard any weird voices in my head and I took a deep breath, before shaking my head. "No, grandma, I haven't. It just vanished." I lied to her. Grandma raised an almost shaven grey eyebrow and sighed. "I want you to keep this in case you need protection." She pressed a talisman into my palm and I thanked her dryly.

I stared at the talisman in my hand and then clutched it tightly, before throwing it under my duvet and jumping back off my bed and onto the floor. I can't just sit here doing nothing! I gotta find out who she is, what she wants me with me, and how I can help her! I took the pendant under my shirt and looked at it for a while. Ever since I got this pendant I've been hearing the girl in my mind, no-one else can hear her but me, the pendant was given to me…… It all adds up!

Something paranormal wants my help and lives within the pendant! That's why I can hear the girl!!

I smiled a little, well, that mystery is done.

o

I cannot believe what we are doing at P.S.E (Personal Social Education) at school. Other beside sex Education and drugs, we are conducting a new topic, called 'The Mother and Father Project'. What is it exactly?? Well, it is a topic all students in our year and class covers; one male student and a female student will be paired up together as a 'couple' and experience stuff grown-ups do – I think…. And maybe even have imaginary children. Everyone was flabbergasted, especially me. I didn't want to be paired up with a boy and 'pretend' to be a couple!! No way!!!! Okay, if my partner was Duke or Joey or any other male I knew would be fine, but I glanced around our class. Most boys looked hideously immature and sad. Now, I also thought, if I was paired up with Seto Kaiba then – aaack! Total downfall, he'd probably be too busy with Kaiba Corp to look after our 'children' and me anyway.

Tea shivered in her seat beside me. Apparently she had the same thoughts like me, and gazed off at Yugi's direction hopefully as the teacher began reading names out aloud. I trembled in my seat uncontrollably. I was practically ripping off bark and splinters from our wooden table with my fingernails that gripped the wood as anxiety swept over me easily.

"Lyndsey McDougall and Tristan Taylor." (A/N: made up name by the way!) Tristan glanced over at the longhaired brown girl who sat in the table opposite his.

"Joey Wheeler and….. "

I hesitated. "And Nicole Ferguson." I looked down disappointed.

"Tea Gardner…. And Duke Devlin." Tea looked at him and shrugged.

"Yugi Moto and…. Michelle Carlson."

Awwww man!! I wanted to be with his partner!

"Ryou Bakura and Hannah Smith."

NOOOOO, that's all the boys who I know taken!!! SOBS…..

"Charybdis Hirota and….."

PLEASE NOT SETO KAIBA, PLEASE GOD, NOT SETO KAIBA!!! ONEGAIIIIII………. (Translation: Pleaseeeee)

"Mike Davidson…. "

Phew…. That Mike guy in my class wasn't half bad.

"Oh wait, sorry, Mike is Rachel's partner, Charybdis, you are with…Seto Kaiba." I almost blew up into a pile of hot lava in my seat.

WHAT???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY ME – AND HIM? He looked at me coldly and I shrank back in my seat, as soon as he turned back round I un-shrank myself and slumped down instead. This cannot be my fate!! Why _does_ fate has to be so cruel to me?? WHY??????

There was a deathly silence in the room, before the teacher cut through it with her voice. "Projects are due in next month, you and your partner must work together and complete a series of tasks I have set out for all of you, no-one is allowed to help each other except from your partner and yourself. This will count as a large part of your grade."

I groaned. That's it! I'm going to ask to swap partners! I saw Joey glaring daggers at Kaiba, and then stare back at my direction reassuringly. Yugi looked at me, then Tristan, Ryou, Duke, then Tea. I got up from my seat once everyone began chatting to one another and stormed over to the teacher, glancing over at the boys and at Yugi's partner, Michelle What-cha-call-her who was eyeing me. The teacher looked up from her documents on the desk and smiled at me.

"Charybdis, how can I help you?"

"You can help me by changing my partner, pronto," I grumbled at her, before realising how cheeky I sounded, and added a 'please' to the end of my sentence. Just then, Michelle What-cha-call-her got up from her seat and walked over to us.

"Michelle, is something wrong?"

"I want to change partners too." She said boredly. Yugi snapped his head over.

I felt overjoyed, and immediately went by her side. "How about if I swap partners with you, Michelle??"

She smiled a little. She was one of Seto Kaiba's fangirls and I knew I had this to my advantage. Thank you god!! I then looked at our teacher. "Miss, since this is part of our grade, can we swap partners?? I don't want to get a bad grade."

"Well um…." She said quietly.

"Yeah Miss, Charybdis isn't too happy with her partner, and I'm not either, so can we swap??" Michelle said.

The teacher looked at both of us. "Well, alright, if it makes you feel better, I don't want this affecting your good grades."

YUUUUUUS!!! YUUUUUUUS!! HAAAALLELUJAH! HAAAAALLELUJAH!!

I could've begun break dancing or even singing on the spotlight there.

We thanked her and moved to our opposite directions, Yugi seemed glad that I was his partner. I glanced over at Kaiba secretly when he was 'preoccupied'; Michelle seemed to be constantly clinging to him, but he didn't show any signs of irritation, but he was ignoring her. Oh well, I'm already perfectly happy with my position right now, what else could go wrong??

o

"Okay, we have to at least pay these bills before we can use our other reserved money for a holiday to Egypt with our 'children'."

I yawned. Okay, maybe this was quite a 'fun' project to do at the start, it's gotten rather boring. No wonder grown-ups seem depressed in the morning when they receive bills in the post. It's only been an hour after school that we've been starting on this project and already I've been feeling tired. I stretched my legs on his bed and then sat back cross-legged opposite him as he began presenting out more bills and other annoying things that made me go to sleep in front.

"Eh?? What's this??" I asked curiously as I picked up one of the bills. It read:

**Borders Bookshop **

**Domino High Street Mall, Unit 74**

**Assistant: Lisa Anderson**

**1 Booster Trading Card Duel Monsters Card Pack £6.99**

**244560994837**

**1 Booster Trading Card Duel Monsters Card Pack £6.99**

**233798001424**

**1 Booster Trading Card Duel Monsters Card Pack £6.99**

**266394832858**

**1 Duel Monsters Card Game Pack £8.99**

**548585784752**

**---------------**

**Total 9 (4 items) £29.96**

**-----------------**

**PAID BY **

CASH £30.00 

**Change -£00.04**

**SEASONS GREETINGS OUR 28 DAY RETURNS POLICY HAS BEEN EXTENDED SO YOU MAY RETURN YOUR XMAS PURCHASES UNTIL 08/01/05**

**OUR USUAL RULES APPLY**

"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!!! You spent £30 on cards and games and you've not even been paying the rent! What kind of father are you, Yugi?" I said aloud.

Yugi shook his head hard to convince me, with a little sweatdrop. "No, no! It's not like that, Charybdis!! That's just something I got with my pocket money way back before our project."

I blinked. "Oh…. I'm sorry, Yug, I shouldn't have been screaming at you like that." I said sheepishly.

He smiled. "It's okay. You were just worried about our um…. Children."

"Yeah, that, our children, yes… ahem." I said awkwardly.

**5 minutes later…..**

"We've got enough money to buy our kids a bouncy castle. Isn't that great??" I chirped cheerfully as I skimmed through an Argos magazine.

"Yes, great, but that means we won't have enough money to pay the gas bill." Yugi said absentmindedly as he skimmed through a pile of more income cheques.

"Can't you think about the kids for once?" I said.

"Charybdis, I'm trying my best, you're the one who's unemployed, I'm desperately working to the bone and you're at our flat doing nothing."

"Well who's going to look after our kids?" I retorted.

"I don't know, employ a nanny or something."

"Heh, good idea, then I'll go look for a job."

"Yeah, you go do that while I work out our Gross pay."

"Okay."

**10 minutes later…. **

"AACK!!"

"What??"

"I'm not earning enough money. I need to get a new job."

"Look through here, they've got loads employment job postings up."

**20 minutes later…..**

"What about this job? Help Needed. Burger Land. Needs assistant for grill, needs to be good at cooking. Work for 14 hours each week. £2 an hour."

I hesitated for a while for a reply, looked at the small leaflet then at another leaflet about journalism and back again. Hmm… working at Burger Land didn't seem like a bad job, the pay just wasn't good, that was all. But then again, it was the easiest job I could manage. I picked up some other available leaflets.

Truck driver.

No way!

Caretaker.

Probably.

Reporter.

Heck no, I've already had some personal experiences with them.

Sales assistant.

Maybe.

Accountant.

I heard you had to be good at maths or something for this job, and I hate maths. So that'll be a definite NO.

I groaned, grumbled, mumbled and wailed. I guess I was being too picky right now, and probably wasn't helping my partner at all, who was sitting opposite me deep into his work. I snorted a little, at least he already got a good job; a powerful Executive in a made up 'Kaiba Corp'. I glanced at him, and then I shrugged hastily and continued gazing at the leaflets. "Well, okay, um…Let's get back to work." I picked up my small container containing my already-eaten lunch from this afternoon and flung the leaflets inside it, before snapping the lid hut, and I shook the tub hard up and down for several minutes non-stop.

"What are you doing?" Yugi asked me as he watched the tub in my hand up and down.

I set it in front of him and smiled triumphantly. "Yugi, I want you to help me pick out a job, I'm too picky that I can't decide which job to take." I replied.

"Alright then, I don't want my 'wife' to be an assistant in 'Burger Land'." He joked. Unfortunately I couldn't really the funny side of it and just looked at the tub as he picked one leaflet out and presented it to me. I opened it and stared, hard.

Truck Driver 

I groaned and flopped down on the bed in disappointment. "Oh well, I'd have to be a Truck driver then."


	23. Love Problems Part I

**Chapter 23**

**Love Problems**

The Mother and Father project was declared to be finished during the holidays, and had to be handed in when we came back to school. By the end of the first week of our holiday, Yugi and I had already completed all the tasks, I managed to 'earn' enough money to support all our remaining bills, and Yugi also 'earned' enough money for another trip to Egypt thus we had ticked off everything in our checklist of 'The Things to do'.

"So, what do you want to do now?" I asked him as we tidied up all of our sheets and utensils into our bags.

He shifted a little as he packed up his pencil into his pencil case. "Well, Yami wanted to go out with you today."

I cringed. "Today huh??" I shrugged, my face turning back into its normal face colour. "I don't mind. Where does he want to go?" I sauntered away from my spot on the floor up to the desk; my legs were already suffering pins and needles and all sorts of sore cramps. I used Yugi's chair to balance me up as I began to tidy up my things, which were scattered on the surface messily. I took my pencil tin, and then picked up my pens gingerly inside, making sure I didn't leave one out amidst the other pens which left a blurred collage of mixed colours in front of me.

Yugi closed his eyes and soon the Millennium Puzzle glowed – and Yami was in his place. "I was thinking maybe you could direct us this time." He replied.

By that time I had my back to him and when I heard his voice I leapt into the air and dropped the gel pen I was holding on the desk with a loud clatter. I turned round to him. "Well…. Uh….. since it's almost lunch…." I looked at my wristwatch. "Maybe we could get something to eat."

o

"I want to go here." I moaned to him as we had walked around the whole of Domino just for a place to eat. Yami glanced at the boring hotdog stand in the park where I was pointing at and groaned a little. "How about that restaurant?" My legs were aching badly as I leaned over him, watching the place just opposite the road were Yami pointed at. I shook my head. "Here."

"No, there."

"I wanna eat a hotdog!"

"I'd rather go to a place to eat inside."

"So?? We'll order hotdogs and _take_ it into the restaurant."

"You can't do that."

"Well we'll order a takeaway, I don't want to eat there."

"Why?"

"Because- because it looks expensive."

He chuckled lightly. "You're so naïve."

"In a good way or bad way?"

"A good way."

"Thank you…. Hey…. Don't you change the subject!!!" I said suspiciously.

"Wha-???" He asked in confusion.

"You're going to play tricks with my head and then drag me over there. I'm not falling for that." I replied quickly.

"Oh, come on, little one."

"I'm not LITTLE, I'm 17!"

"Well I'm nearly 5000 years old."

"So???? Does that mean that you can just boss me around?? You still look as though you're only a year older than me. Just because you were some _Pharaoh_, that doesn't give you the right to order me around." I retorted furiously.

He looked hurt and instantly I shut up, looked at the ground, and then mumbled; "I still wanna eat here."

"Well I say we eat there."

"But Yami…."

"Wouldn't you like to eat inside? It's awfully windy today."

"But – "

He raised his palm to silence me and grabbed my hand and led me over. Then he let go of my hand as soon as we almost went onto the road. I watched behind him as he set foot onto the road and passed the street and I shouted after him. "WAIT UP!!! I never said I still wanted to go there to eat!!" He ignored me and I huffed. I dwaddled about a foot up to him, when he noticed that I wasn't by his side (which was um…. Five minutes later), he turned back round to face me and I quickened my pace. "Are you alright?"

"No." I whined again. "My legs hurt, can you carry me??"

"What?" He looked around our crowded surroundings.

I nodded convincingly. "Can you carry me – just for the while. We're almost there anyway. PLEASE????? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE???"

He sighed. "Alright, but just this time." And then he walked over to me with his arms out but I shrank away from him. "Not that, a piggy back." And then I waddled behind him and pounced on his back unsuspectingly and he almost toppled over, but managed to hold us both.

"Y-You're… clutching my throat." He croaked out, and immediately I untightened my grip around his neck and let my arms hang loose as he supported my legs and carried me through the street, people were already staring. I didn't care. Hasn't anyone seen a guy carry a lady before?? I wondered how Yami felt, but then straightened myself. He should be pleased that I wanted him to carry me. As in return of the favour, I constantly cuddled him and nuzzled his neck until we arrived at the entrance of the restaurant I leapt off him and then pushed him in.

"Table for two please." I said to the waiter and he guided us over to a small-secluded area away from the windows and other prowling eyes. It was a table off to the side and we sat opposite each other as the waiter handed us menus. I stared hard. I suppose you'd know the reason I didn't want to come here in the first place. Okay, I admit, I've only been to restaurants as posh as this one about twice before. My table manners aren't as good, and I didn't even know what to get either. There was lunch A, B and C, drinks and desserts over the next page of the menu and other sorts of delicacies I had never even seen, heard or eaten before.

I looked over at Yami worriedly. "I don't know what to get." I said to him softly.

"Never mind, I'll order for you." He replied.

"Um… okay, wait, I was also thinking of getting…. No… I – Yeah, that." I pointed to the Chocolate Ice cream sundae on the desserts page, then at the Spaghetti Bolognese and then pointed to the Lemon Tea.

The waiter came back over, and Yami ordered. I secretly watched him in admiration. He must come here often, he sounded so free as he spoke. He never stuttered like me, never felt shy or awkward. He must be perfect.

_A little too perfect._

o

"Are… you sure, you wanna pay… for this???" I asked worriedly as our food came.

He nodded reassuringly. "It's fine, Charybdis, stop worrying."

A teeny morsel of uneasiness swept over me. I felt bad as I glanced down at the plate of spaghetti Bolognese that was set in front of me. The huge, tall glass of Lemon Tea beside the napkin made me wonder if I could finish it all, but the extra bowl of Minestrone soup beside the plate made me feel even more nervous.

"O-Okay." I said, and then I picked up my fork and knife. Okay, I'm right handed so……Um…. What hand carries the fork… the left, right?? (Get it, lol?) No, I think that's the hand that carries the knife. So I swapped over and held the fork on my right hand, and then picked the knife on my left.

I went to cut the meatball and found it hard to do so since 1) the meatball seemed uncooked and hard and 2) the knife seemed funny in my grip, the knife went out of control and it slammed hard on the plate making a loud _CLUNK_ through the –almost quiet restaurantand I dropped the fork onto the floor. My face burned as I went to retrieve it quickly off the floor and I wiped it with my napkin clean, then set it on the side and reached for my Lemon Tea. I drunk it noisily and then stopped, realising how rude I was and instantly made my pace of swallowing slower.

Gluuuuug…. Gluuuuuug……glugggg……. Gluuuuuuuuuuuuug……..

I realised Yami was staring at me and I stopped.

"W-What?"

He directed his gaze from me and began to dig into his own food. I can't believe it, he's almost finished and I haven't touched it yet!! I took another quick sip of my lemon Tea until I felt that my throat had something inside it. I must have swallowed a bit of lemon by accident. I choked a little. Then I coughed. I coughed out louder and louder. I wheezed. I gagged and got up from my seat. "Excuse me." I managed to croak out to him.

He raised an eyebrow slightly at me as I ran as fast as I could to the ladies toilet and instantly paused when I saw a queue in the toilets. The ladies waiting stared at my red suffocating form and then looked back. God no!!

There were only about 5 cubicles, all of them were locked and I cursed, and then ran back out knowing that I'll never have enough time to wait. I felt as tough I couldn't breathe and instantly covered my mouth as I passed a corridor, trying to find a more private place to cough it up. I ran past the male's toilet. I stopped, would I really go inside the opposite sexes' facility just to get something out from my throat?? I might see something nasty, but I was sure they must've got at least a cubicle in there too.

Anyway I was going to choke!!!

I pushed the door open, thanking god that it was empty and spotted the cubicle at the corner and then I ran with my eyes shut tightly. I was making several rasping noises and patted my back desperately until I managed to spit it out. I felt grossed out. Extremely grossed out. I flushed the tissue down the toilet and stepped back out from my cubicle.

Then I froze.

There was Yami. Washing his hands.

I must've been too occupied with choking and coughing to hear that he had stepped in. He stared at me. Holy cow, where was the flushing button that would whisk me into thin air????!!!!

"Uhhhh….. I can explain…." I said awkwardly.

_This is so embarrassing....._

o

He couldn't stop chuckling. My face was burning badly as I finished my soup on the way as I spoke. I looked at my lap and played with my zip as the waiter collected in our empty dishes. I noticed that my spaghetti wasn't nearly finished yet, and that's when I piped up to him. "Do you want to try some?"

He blinked a little and then I curled some strands of pasta around my fork, and raised it over to his open mouth. "Here comes the Boeing 747 whooshing down for landing." I chirped cheerfully, imitating an aircraft engine and 'knneeeewwwoooowwwwiiing' all over the place and I popped it into his open mouth. He chewed on it slowly, never taking his eyes off me as I shifted uncomfortably. "Well, do you like it?"

Yami nodded.

"Okay." I prodded at some more, and then popped it again into his mouth, about to say something about acar roaring into a dark tunnel but I stopped. Yami isn't five years old, sure, my cousins enjoyed this when **they** were five, but they don't know. After he had finished, he looked down at his salad, and then he picked up some pieces of cabbage and ordered me to open my mouth. So I did and he popped his fork in. I chewed the cabbage, swallowed and then nodded. "It's good."And so we done that for minutes until the food was gone. But it still didn't end there. The ice cream came; with two spoons, one bowl. I grinned, picked up my spoon and dipped it into the thick, icy delicious sphere of chocolaty goodness. "Do you want some of this too?"

Yami looked at the ice cream sundae, then at the little ornament umbrella that was protruding from one of the scoops and nodded briefly before he raised my hand and ate the ice cream from the spoon. Immediately he closed his eyes and shivered a little.

Brainfreeze.

"That happens, so you'd better watch it." I replied cheerfully.

Then I got the brainfreeze when he fed me some and he chuckled with delight when my teeth chattered. I was shivering non-stop so he sat beside me and offered me his jacket but I snuggled into his chest, enjoying that instead of just receiving a jacket. He sort of detached me from him no matter how much I clung onto him and put the jacket around me tightly. "We have to finish the ice cream first."

o

"What are you doing?"

I grinned at him, holding my digital camera in between my hands and raising it up to him eagerly. "I want to take a picture." Secretly I had taken my camera with me when I went to Yugi's place in case I went out with Yami. I always peeked at Callista's secret photo book with pictures of her and her boyfriend, so I was like, 'why don't I take pictures of me and Yami?' It could be a memorial thing for the both of us! And maybe when we're older, with our kids and.... okay, let's not go to that area.......

"What for?" He asked.

"Smile, Yami!" I said quickly and I pressed the button.

_FLASH!_

He blinked as soon as the light flashed brilliantly over him, rubbed his eyes and groaned a little. "Please warn me before you do that."

"Sorry, I will. Ooh, ooh, keep in that pose, Yami." Then I zoomed into him again and pressed the button. "Great. Now…. I need someone to help us take a picture…." Thus I began my search, and constantly went over to people who I found were suitable to take pictures of us both. Finally I managed to find a woman willing to help us take a picture. I grabbed Yami and put my arms around him. He looked uneasy at the camera.

"Ok, you guys in position?"

I nodded enthusiastically and she pressed the button once more and it flashed again. I thanked her and took my camera back, then groaned as the digits rolled back. "Oh no….. there's no more film….." Then I spotted a nearby photo booth, a wide grin spread over my face and I turned my head to Yami.

"Oh Yami……" I sang as I hovered around him.

"Yes??"

I pointed to the photo booth and smiled at him. "Come on, let's get going." And I grabbed him over again.

"Is this really necessary??" He complained with a slightly raised eyebrow as I tapped on the machine and inserted the coins in. "Yeah." I replied, shoving him onto the seat and then adjusting the contrast of the photo screen and pulling the curtain over. "Right, I've put it down for six individual pictures, so we can change poses every time."

Yami didn't look too sure and eyed the machine cautiously.

The results weren't as fan-daby-dozie as I would've thought. I zoomed out from the booth, almost ripping the curtain off as I pulled it back and went to the small opening where our photos were ready. Yami came stumbling out (Probably because the flashes had dazzled him), and I dragged him over. He seemed rather reluctant to look.

The first one had me smiling like an idiot with my arms around him. The second photo had Yami's arms around me and his chin resting on my head, the third one went rather wonky since I almost fell off the seat and only my hand was visible on the corner and Yami had a worried expression on his face. The fourth one was the best; I was kissing his cheek. The fifth and sixth one was also bad; there was a spider over the screen and in the corner it showed me grabbing onto Yami for life. Then the next one showed me freaking out because the spider landed on my head…….

"I want to keep these," I said. Then I pointed to the picture with my hand and the two with the spider on it. "Except from those ones, you can keep those. No, wait, that'll be unfair, here, you can keep one, and I'll keep one then uh… the remaining one we'll both share."

He looked at me as if I was joking and sighed. "Alright then."

He picked the one where I was kissing his cheek. And I chose the one where he had his arms around me. Hmmm, wait till I stick these into my diary……

o

I glanced wistfully at the large bouquets of flowers that littered the display windows on florists, and then glanced at Yami who was once again walking in front of me with his hands in his pockets, unaware that I was behind him and eyeing him hopefully. He turned round. "Charybdis, why are you always walking behind me?" He pulled me over to his side and kept his arm over my shoulder. I stared at him, biting my lip and stared back at the flowers, until his hand over my shoulder made me continue along with him, that I almost tripped but regained my balance quickly before he noticed.

"Um…. Yami??" I asked meekly.

"Hmm?"

Feeling rather jealous as I spotted other couples looking at the flowers on display and discussing with their partners as if they could freely say anything they wanted to say to each other, I glanced over at Yami again, then at the flowers, then back at Yami.

"Uh….." I stared hard at the flowers, and he followed my gaze off at the florist. I was hoping he'd get the message.

"Oh, wait here, I have to get something." He said, and he took his arm off me quickly and wandered away from me before I could finish. I smiled as he headed towards the Florist, but then the smile turned into a frown when I saw him change is route to the small kiosk at the corner just beside the flower shop I was staring at hopefully.

He returned back with the newspaper. "This is for Yugi's grandpa. Thanks for reminding me." He told me and he held the bag, and then continued to walk.

HE THOUGHT I WAS STARING AT THE KIOSK???

I bit my lip again, feeling extra ignored and crummy, I shoved his hand off me. "I can't believe you!! You got something for Yugi's Grandpa, why not something for me???" I demanded at him FURIOUSLY. I swear my face was turning redder and redder by the passing minute.

Yami blinked. "Are you jealous of Yugi's Grandpa?"

"NO!!!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "Not only do you pull me off into this restaurant I didn't want to go into and make me waste half of the food, you ignore my demands and pretend as though you can't see those goddamn flowers in your face but you say I am jealous of Yugi's grandfather?!?!"

I thought I saw his eyes narrowing slightly. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying – that, you – you – you – " I stuttered helplessly, looking away from him and sniffling a little. I squeaked, and gulped. "You don't care about me!"

He sighed heavily, shaking his head to the side and I knew I shouldn't have exploded like that. I squeaked a little again and turned away from him. Maybe I should apologise? After all, I think Yami would take this too seriously. Well he was the one being dominant in the first place. He never really did listened to what I had to say. But still, I was determined to keep our relationship going. I thought it was special, to me, especially. I gasped a little as he hugged me from behind.

"I'm sorry, Charybdis." He whispered.

"It's… okay, Yami." I babbled helplessly; I didn't want thislittle dilemma to tear us apart."You – You don't have to always hear me out, or-or buy me flowers." I mumbled.

"Is that what you want? A flower?" He asked me softly.

Well, it was what I staring at half the time. I nodded briefly and he told me to wait there for another minute and ran inside a florist shop, then a couple of minutes waiting, he re-emerged carrying a medium sized bouquet. I croaked as he handed me it, also hugging me again as I marvelled at it. There was a small collection of amaryllis, red camellias, slightly striped carnations, cyclamens and some magnolia blossoms, all supported with a couple of green leaves and ribbons tied around the stems.

"Y-You're too nice, for me, Yami." I told him.

_Too nice. _

"Nonsense." He said proudly.

I looked down, feeling unworthy and useless.

And then we embraced, until Yugi suddenly floated out from the puzzle. "Tea at 3'o'clock!" He cried out quickly, and instantly Yami and I shoved ourselves away from each other. We both did. I suddenly felt unhappy again and stayed in the shadows pondering about what just happened that 3 seconds, but then saw Tea wearing a pink cardigan and yellow top with a matching skirt and tights running over to us with her arm outstretched. Yami had to change back to Yugi and I secretly waved to him.

_Oh well, so much for our date._

I was thinking of going to see a movie too. A scary movie so I'd be clinging onto Yami for the remaining hours.

o

I found myself travelling back alone on the bus to my house after the date. It only lasted for three hours, well; I suppose that's enough time for today. Tea asked me why I had some flowers, and then I had to lie and say that my grandma got hurt, and I had bought flowers to cheer her up. I hadn't thanked Yami yet. Tea and Yugi are off to their date now.

_This can't be happening. _

I straightened myself in my seat and looked at the window, at my reflection.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Well, here you go ppl, another chappie of CG! Okay, the first indication that something wrong is going to happen to Charybdis' relationship with Yami has already been initiated. Just see how demanding and annoying she is to him! LOL.

See you later!

Thank you for reviewing!


	24. Love Problems Part II

**Chapter 24**

**Love Problems **

**Part II**

.:Dream:.

_Eh? What? Where?? Who?? I blinked, found myself sitting on a black leather sofa almost identical to the one at home, wearing a loose, white shirt and a black, long skirt, and designer black boots. After admiring myself, I looked around my surroundings. I'm not at home; I'm at someone else's house!! The walls are white, there are lamps in each corner of the living room, the walls are decorated with elaborate paintings, the shelves and cupboards are stacked with expensive ornaments and the furnishings look extremely new and posh. The television just opposite me looks like a miniature cinema screen; it is silver, and wide screen! The stairs just about 17 feet away from the couch go up to the ceiling where the landing looks like balcony. There is also a large opening on the right of the huge living room and I gasped. It was a dining room, the size of an Olympic sized swimming pool and I shrieked; I was in a mansion!!_

_I dashed from my seat and over to the huge sliding doors to find a lit up swimming pool in the darkness, then glanced around the walls in search for a clock. I spotted an elaborate grandfather's clock on the corner beside the lamp and it was past 2am! There was a clicking sound in the distance, and soon from the small corner came a familiar figure who was advancing over slowly with a briefcase in his hand. _

_Yami??????_

_Yup, it was Yami, wearing a black business suit, shoes, white shirt and black tie, he didn't look any different – well, he looked slightly older, but his hair hasn't changed. It's still in its wild form. The business suit didn't seem to be made out from leather, but his suitcase was, guess the guy couldn't live without it. I ran back over to the front door and opened it. _

"_Charybdis." He said as soon as he arrived and enveloped me into a tight hug. "So, how was truck driving day?" I cringed. I'm a truck driver?? I wondered if this was based off the Mother and father project. "Uh…. Yeah…." I said quickly, hoping not to get suspicious. Currently I had no idea where I was, why I was here, and just how old I was. He wandered over to the sofa, placed down his briefcase and sat himself down, then looked at me as I stood there staring into space. _

_Yami patted the empty seat beside him. "Charybdis??"_

"_Hunh??"_

_He patted the seat beside him again so I quickly darted over and rested myself again where he put his arm around me and cuddled me. I felt embarrassed, and then I took Yami's hand off me and smiled sweetly at him. "Are you hungry?" _

_Wrong thing to say._

"_Famished." _

_Then I found myself in the kitchen staring at the huge fridge at the corner, and the massive number of cupboards and shelves containing who knows what! I gulped Right…. Let's see what's inside. I opened one cupboard, finding packets of coffee, plates and tea sachets, then opened another, and found mountains of cup noodles – my favourite food and snatched some off, and then returned to the living room. "Yami, which flavour – "I paused. "Do…. You want???" I finished off quietly as soon as I saw Yugi standing there. _

_He turned round to face me; he was fingering the Millennium puzzle. "Charybdis, what are you doing here??? I didn't know Tea invited you over, especially at this hour." _

"_I-I-I-I." I stammered helplessly, until I saw a probably 20 year old Tea appear from nowhere beside him. _

"_Charybdis??" She asked questioningly. "Is that you?" _

_I dropped the Cup Noodles on the floor. "I-I'm sorry, I'd better be going now." _

"_Wait, do you want to stay for Hot Pot?" Tea asked me. _

"_No, I'm okay, um… bye." I went to the front door and opened it, then ran out. _

_This is crazy._

_I looked back at the happy couple, and then sauntered back over secretly, and paused as I saw the residential plate beside the front door. _

**Moto Residence**

**Yugi Moto and Tea Moto**

.:End of Dream:.

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"

I woke up slobbering over the bouquet of flowers in my lap and jerked back awake abruptly, almost banging my nose off the handle bar of the two seater in front of me in the bus. It was only a dream, a nightmare in fact, in its own ways. I looked around myself. The bus was empty.

"Hey you."

I looked at the bus driver who had been observing me screaming and blinked at him.

"You okay?" He asked m.e

"I'm fine."

"Good, we've already arrived at the terminal and we need to double check, so you have to get off and wait outside just now." He replied.

I hesitated to get out from my seat. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Already up to 7pm."

I gawked. I had been asleep for that long??? I straightened myself, rubbing sleep from my eyes and dried drool off my face and clutched the flowers tightly, then exited the bus. It was fortunate that the terminal was at the suburbs of Domino. Walking back to home would only take several minutes.

The dream was still bothering me, that I hadn't paid attention to the small nagging voice in my head that keep screaming out to me that it was JUST a dream. Hmm, the negative thoughts just keep coming and coming to me. I brought out my small compact mirror that resided in my pocket of my jacket and lifted the tab up, then stared at the girl.

_What's wrong? _She asked me questioningly, noticing how pale and tired I looked.

"I just had a crummy dream." I replied to her.

_A dream?_

"Yeah, about my boyfriend becoming someone else and already married with one of my best friends."

_You are too young to think about marriage. _

"I know that, but it's really bothered me."

_In what ways?_

"I felt… jealous, and angry…. And cheated, although he wasn't… cheating."

_I understand how you feel._

"What do you mean?"

_I once had a true love, but he was – I do not wish to talk about it for the moment. _

"Oh. That's okay, I think I understand how you feel too… whatever happened to you?"

………

"Well, at least he got me flowers….. when I asked him to." I said quickly, deciding to change the subject.

_He doesn't seem worthy._

"He is, in a way. I just find him bossy over me, dominant, even."

_Dominant?_

"Yeah, he doesn't listen to where I want to go, what I want and when I want something. Oh yes, you always go to me that you want some help, well, what is it?"

_About that….. we'll talk about this later. It isn't safe to be outside, at this hour. _

"Okay."

I shut the compact down, and stuffed it back inside my pocket, ignoring the stares I received from passing people as I walked through the slightly empty park towards my home. I clutched my flowers tightly with one hand, and fingered the pendant Yami gave me for my birthday, which I had always been wearing ever since. I paused as soon as my fingertip brushed the small thin opening I spotted in the pendant. I glanced at it carefully and peered at it.

Wow, it's not a pendant, but some sort of ancient locket!!! Maybe there this picture of the past owner of it… wait, if this is some sort of artefact, which was made AGES ago, there probably wasn't any pictures or cameras that time. Durr! I slapped myself mentally. How could I be so stupid? Still, I sat myself down on an empty bench and placed the flowers down carefully. Then I fumbled around with my long fingernails into the small opening like a pry bar and tried to push it out.

5 more minutes later…..

Okay, this isn't working. People are passing more glances at me as I am struggling with this locket!!

_What are you doing??_

"Trying to open this wretched thing, now please don't talk to me just yet I'm nearly done… I'm almost there…. I've… DONE IT!!!"

The locket opened with a short click and I gasped. The locket, was completely clean of scratches and dents inside, was shinier than the cover and had more hieroglyphs dottering around the frame in gold. WOW. Unfortunately there was no trace of any pictures, and the hieroglyphs meant nothing to me. Oh well, I'd better get going now.

I froze and looked at my hands which had began trembling non-stop, making the flowers shake too. Was it an earthquake? No, it was me. I could feel a sort of tingling feeling surging through me. My breaths were getting shorter and shorter, and I was struggling to breathe as I continued to walk. I panted hard, and dropped to the floor on all fours, sweating like mad as I felt more uncomfortable by the second. My whole body was shaking vigorously uncontrollably. The pain was hurting in my brain. I felt awful, almost like as if wanting to vomit but I held it in and coughed heavily, feeling more and more drowsy by the minute. My vision was getting slightly blurred; I was finding it harder to breathe. Some people went over.

"Are you okay, Miss??"

Huh?? I…. I didn't hear a single word that person said. The only thing I can hear is this weird chanting that's growing louder and louder in the background. I… can't see. Oh no, what the hell have I done?!?!

What was happening to me??

o

I opened my eyes, to find myself lying on the floor with a huge crowd of people surrounding me.

"Karidis!!!"

Huh?? What????

"Grandma??" I moaned at her as I saw her towering form glancing at me worriedly. She helped me up to my feet through the crowd to the bench; I found my flowers and the half-opened locket that seemed heavier than usual and groaned again clutching my throbbing head. "What just happened??"

"I not know." She told me as the crowd parted away from us and sat me up properly on the bench. "I was patrolling the area and found you on the floor unconscious."

I didn't reply, and relaxed on the bench. "Grandma, can you take me home??"

"Sure. You don't look too good."

"I went out with Yami."

"AH!"

"What??"

"Your parents have found out you are dating!"

"WHAT??? HOW???????"

"They read your diary."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

o

"Mum, dad, how can you do this to me???? Not only do you scream and slap me (of course they didn't, I was just being hysterical and over reactive that I thought they had mentally slapped me in the face), but you dive into my privacy and read my diary??!!! How could you???" I sobbed to them as they sat opposite me on the leather couch eyeing my angrily. I continued my fake sobbing and cries with my eyes closed with fake-forced out tears from my eyes, and then snapped one eye open to look at them.

Forcing yourself to cry really is bad. It isn't my fault they managed to open my diary (or maybe find it lying open under my pile of trash in my bedroom by accident…….. oh no, didn't I lock it yesterday?!?!). I froze. Now my deepest, darkest secrets are revealed…. For the world to see!!!!! Oh the shame!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Stop it, we know you're pretending."

"Oh." I gathered my sad form up and sat back on the armchair and sniffed. "I'm sorry, mum, dad." I mumbled to them. Why did I get the feeling that I was such a mummy's/daddy's girl???? And why did I feel so pathetic that I was pretending to sound so oh-so-pitiful and sad that they might forgive me?? I felt somehow ashamed of myself for using this lame tactic. Do you think mum and dad were convinced?

Hell no.

"You know what we told you about boys." Dad said.

"Charybdis, why do you keep on continuing to disobey us?"

I closed my eyes tightly. I didn't want to be told what to do all the time. I had my own life. I was the architect of my own life. I could whatever I felt like, and no one had the right to stop Yami and I from seeing each other, no one did!!!!! Except me, me, me, me, me!!!!! "I'm not! You two don't just understand me, you don't understand me at all – and you call yourself psychologists?? You can't even handle me!!" I suddenly screamed at them. Then I realised what I had done and I slumped down, starting to pant hard again as I felt myself feel even more weaker than ever.

Mum and dad both blinked. "Go to your room."

o

So I stayed there, locked myself in my blue square room sitting on my double bed with my arms crossed over my chest, huffing and screaming bloody abuse to bloody no one and ignoring the times Callista had banged on my wall to tell me to shut up and take out my anger on my pillow (I did so and threw it around my room in a raging fit). I suddenly just felt so upset and wanting to punch at my walls, and then fly out in the sky as if I had wings, as if I was free, or jump out of the window, until I finally remembered the pictures I took and the bouquet of flowers I managed to stuff in my room before I went down to mum and dad and pulled it out under my bed, blowing dust off the petals and picking off a dirty grey sock and a chocolate bar wrapper I found hanging over some of the flowers….

Unlocking my room quietly and peeking out if anyone was in the landing, I tiptoed down to the storeroom just beside the bathroom and ransacked through, trying to ignore the small cobwebs that dangled over the hinges and corners, then I fished out an old glass vase that mum put away in one of the shelves and blew the dust off, coughing and spluttering and slammed the door shut behind me. Then I tiptoed into the bathroom and stripped the box clear of its contents; gently pulling the vase out and ripping off the bubble wrap. I ran the vase under the taps of the bath for several minutes, before drying it off with an old towel in the laundry basket (heck, who cares if I got it dirty?? It's going to go into the wash anyway).

Then I disappeared back into my room with the half-filled jug of water and set it on my desk, then pulled out some scissors from my pen tub and took out one stem, raising it up to the cool blade of my tatty scissors and I snipped off a small bit of the stem. Then I dunked the flower in and then picked another stem up, about to cut it when:

_Stop!_

The scissors almost cut my finger off and I turned to my vanity mirror at the corner of the room glaring angrily at her. "Do you mind?? You made me almost chop off my finger!!"

_I'm sorry. But I had to warn you._

"About what?"

_That's not how you prepare flowers properly._

I sweat dropped. "That's it?? Who bloody cares about how you prepare flowers anyway? I just know that they're used to decorate places." She shook her head at me.

_You're so naïve._

I froze.

_Flowers are like people too. Can you hear their cries when humans cut off their stems? Can you hear them when someone picks them out from their roots??_

"Uh…. No?"

_Did you know that different flowers also mean different things?? Did you –_

"Alright, alright!! Don't go ranting and raving about flowers and other junk, I get what you mean, I'll treat them with more respect." Then I turned to the flowers. "Hi, nice to meet you." I waved at them sarcastically.

_There's no need for that. _

"Well you just said they were like people."

_I didn't mean it that way._

"Then what way did you mean it then?"

_Just get on with your task, I'll tell you later. _

"Alright." I finished snipping off the flower gently and diagonally instead and then placed it into the vase. "Are you happy now?" I asked her.

No reply.

I turned round.

She wasn't there.

o

After finishing plucking every flower into the same size required to suit the size of the vase and showering them with white dust from the air (a.k.a, flower food) I sat back down on my bed, then pulled out my wallet, which contained the picture that Yami and I took at the photo booth. I couldn't help but smile and hunted around for my diary, which I had retrieved from my parents before they had another look. Apparently they had only reached page 5…. I couldn't believe how minimum of a time it took for me to grow a crush on Yami. God. Anyways, I took out my pritt glue stick and messily covered the rims of the back with a small dab of glue and then stuck it on the next blank page of dairy entry.

Then I locked my dairy again with my necklace key and stuffed the diary under my pillowcase, before returning to the same sitting position I was before I remembered the flowers. What was I doing again?? Oh yeah. I continued with my sulking and cursing.

_Are you all right?_

"No." I mumbled to her.

_What happened now?? You were fine a minute ago. _

I stared at my reflection. "You saw what I shouted to them!! You should've seen it!!!" I shouted at her hysterically. My face turning redder and redder by the passing minute I screamed.

_Calm down. _

"They're not going to let Yami see me again – or allow ME to see him. What am I going to do now???"

_First, relax a little, and think about it. Your parents care for you. _

"Oh really??" I snapped at her. "Do you think they really like me when they've got brain box Callista there?!? And everyone around going like 'You can learn something you're your older sister, Callista, Charybdis' isn't helping either!!!"

_You should be lucky your older sister helps you so much, and here you are acting like a spoiled little girl who wants all the attention to yourself. You were just too blinded with jealousy to notice how much people cared for you in a way._

"I-I'm not jealous!! I just feel, so… undervalued. I…. I didn't want everyone to look at me as if I was nothing, and then look at Callista as if she was gold……." I squeaked. "I mean… I knew I was quite harsh on Yami, but… I just felt as though he didn't care for me either. He… always walked in front of me and didn't even notice when I wasn't even beside him. He didn't listen to me. He took me o this restaurant he wanted to go to. He didn't buy me any flowers. He only got me them when I ASKED him to."

_Ask when you see him again; If me and – make someone up here by the way, fell into water, who would you save first?_

"Would that help??"

_You only want answers, right? If he loves you? _

Yeah…..

_I think you might need help, MY help. _

"Who are you…….." I mumbled at my green-eyed doppelganger.

_My name is Scylla. (_A/N, okay, I know Scylla is the name of another greek monster, but I thought this name would be appropiate since Scylla lived beside Charybdis in greek Mythology - maybe they were partners in eating passing sailors in boats? Eh, LOL)

"And??"

_And what?_

"Your age… where you came from??"

_I'm sorry, I have lost track of my age, but about where I originated…. I'll tell you when it is time. _

"Time? Um…. Okay then. Well then, my name is Charybdis. I'm only 17."

_Now, about your parents, I suggest you apologise to them and tell them the whole story first, make sure they understand your current situation. _

"Um….. great idea……"

I thanked her and she disappeared from my mirror and my reflection returned back t normal. So then I unlocked my own room and waddled down the stairs nervously, hoping this would work, where I saw mum and dad were sitting on the dining room table both talking until I came over to them they stopped. I squeaked and apologised to them quickly and hugged them both. "I'm sorry, ma, pa…. I didn't mean to yell at two." I said shakily. They both apologised to me, saying how I was right at one thing, how they didn't seem to realise how lousy I must've felt during the time and we both shared a couple of minutes sitting together and talking for a while on the sofa with a hot cup of tea.

"So… um…. Will you still let me go out with Yami?" I asked them quietly. Mum and dad exchanged quick looks and then turned to me. "Yes."

"R-Really??"

They nodded. "We still remember when we were in love, nothing could tear me and your father apart." Mum replied. Dad held a peace sign to me and beamed. I cringed. "Thanks dad, thanks mum." And then we shared more time exchanging hugs. Then Callista came down because she had no more homework to do and we opened the TV and switched to the movie channel where we watched a family movie (it was actually pretty boring).

"Wait, where's grandma?" I asked, looking around as I returned to my seat with a bowl of sweets from the kitchen (gone reluctantly to get some 'family food').

"Grandma's moved to the shrine, didn't you know??"

o

"This is great." I said happily as I brushed my teeth and stared at my reflection, also staring at Scylla who wasn't brushing her teeth. "Me and my family are okay now and I can still see Yami without telling him what happened." She stared at me funnily and smiled. "What?" I asked her curiously.

_Charybdis, you sort of remind me of someone….._

"Who's that??" I said as I filled my cup with more water to rinse out my mouth.

_I… can't remember……_

"Well, anyway, I want to thank you, for helping me out with that circumstance."

_It's all right, I try to help people in any way I can. _

"Other people? That's cool, you must be a nice person."

_Please don't flatter me……_

"Sorry." I smiled cheesily at her after rinsing my foamy mouth and wiped my face with my face cloth.

_Now, about your boyfriend…. What was his name again? _

"Yami."

_Right. Charybdis…. I think you should write down everything that has happened between you both._

"Everything?"

_Yes, you don't have to let me see it, but you can see it for yourself, and look at your problems. Did you know that most problems surrounding a relationship bear the very answer to it?_

"No, wow. You're like a Love Expert."

_You can say that if you want…._

"You know Scylla, will I only see you when you appear in my reflection?? Because um…. I really want to comb my hair at the moment."

_Oh…. I'm sorry, well, you can…. Contact me in your mind, remember?_

"Like an agony aunt - I can ask you questions and stuff?"

_Pardon?_

"Never mind…. So I can contact you in my mind then?"

_Correct._


	25. Interview At The Arcade

**Chapter 25**

**Interviews At The Arcade**

"Tea???"

"Yeah?" She asked me, as we moved our feet around the dance platform on the floor, touching the arrow buttons in order as the arrows on the huge screen reeled up to the top.

Yeah! We got two good dancers on the floor!" The machine cried out (eh – I mean, the mechanical voice person - lol).

"What do you think is important between a couple?" I asked.

"Uh…. I think, heart, and communication." She blushed.

The crowd watching us having a little dancing competition were cheering us on continuously. Well, both Tea and I were at a tie at score, and I was finding it hard to keep up with her since I was getting exhausted. My body was getting weaker and weaker by the minute that I dropped to the floor.

"Thanks Tea, I-I think I'll go sit down now." I wheezed. My breathes were getting heavier and heavier by the minute I was finding it harder to breathe. And I didn't have asthma either. She stopped in the middle of her game; ignoring the sudden boos she got and helped me over. "Are you okay, Charybdis?"

"I'm okay, get on with your game, Tea, don't mind me, I'll be at Joey's." I said to her reassuringly, and then she shrugged and continued with her game.

I gathered up my jacket and pad and then moved over away from the dancing area. "So… um…. Joey… what do you think is the most important thing of love?" I asked him nervously, holding up my 'reporting' pad with a blue ballpoint pen in my other as I sat beside him in an empty seat of an arcade game while I watched him shoot the ducks. Joey didn't look at me and fiddled with the gear stick, pressed some of the buttons, and then growled in slight annoyance when the music indicating Game Over was heard. He pouted, with his arms crossed over his chest and his mouth turned upside down to a small frown. I saw his mouth slightly open, and then close, and then open again.

"Well??" I asked him.

"Gurlie… why are ya asking me dese things?" He asked me as he switched his gaze away from the machine to me.

I froze up all over.

"And why are you holding a pad like that as if you're interviewing me?"

I choked a little. "Well uh… I just want to find out. You know, about you and Mai. How do you feel towards each other?"

"Gurlie…. Have ya got a boyfriend??"

"NO!!!"

He stared at me even more suspiciously. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Okay, okay, I do have a boyfriend!!" I said quickly.

"Really?" He laughed and turned around as I nodded. "Well, just ta let ya know, I think the most important thing about love between two people, dey need to be are… emotions and respect, lovers need to get a grip on their current feelings towards each other……"

I took a quick note down. Fee–lings…..

"And they need to respect their actions towards each other too….."

_Respect….._

"Great, thanks Joey…. So um… how is your relationship with Mai?" I asked him as I held the pad close to me as he tried to peek over.

"Not telling ya." He replied, grinning at me. Then I slumped. "Aw'right, I'll tell ya." He added. I beamed at him. "We're doing jus' fine."

I smiled and then got up from my seat. "Well, I'd be talking to Tristan now, thanks Joey." I thanked him and waddled over to the snooker table where Tristan was holding the club and scratching his chin, thinking about his next move.

"No prob." Joey inserted more game tokens into the machine and started rapidly pressing the buttons again once the game started.

It was a nice Saturday afternoon, the gang and I had decided to spend one day of our holiday at the local arcade for a couple of hours before going for some lunch. Joey was at the video games with Duke and Yugi, Tea was at the Dance Dance Revolution area at another challenge with this guy with funny hair and long, long, arms and legs (Johnny Steps - is that his name?), Tristan at the snooker table and Ryou was hanging out at gambling area/jukebox at the corner. And me? Well I had dutifully resigned myself to use this opportunity where everyone is here together to 'interview' them on their views on love. Unfortunately Mai wasn't here today since she was busy, hopefully I'd get the chance to interview her and ask her on her opinions.

"Hi Tristan." I said as I plopped myself down on the seat near the table, watching him hit the ball making it fly down a hole.

He gloated and then turned to me. "So, I heard you've been 'interviewing' some of us, what about?"

Hmm, I looked at my checklist, I've already interviewed Joey – he said respect and emotions, I've also interviewed Duke – he said trust and joy, and Tea said heart and communication. I've not got the guts to interview Yugi – in case Yami hears our conversation. I also haven't interviewed Ryou yet.

"Yeah, I've been interviewing everyone, but for a reason – I just want an answer, what do you think is the most crucial in a relationship?" I asked him nervously.

Tristan blinked. "You mean love??" he slightly went pink. "Wow… I can't believe you, Shrimp, most of the time you talk rubbish and act all immature, and now you're talking what grown ups talk about."

I raised an eyebrow. "Your point?" I asked curiously.

"I didn't know you felt that way towards me." He said, with his eyes closed and small grin forming. He looked as if he was in some kind of dreamland. "I'm sorry but I already have a loved one......"

What?? "No, no, no, you got it all wrong, Tristan." I said with a slight sweat drop.

He blinked. "If you don't mean it that way, then, what way do you mean it?"

"I-eh……" I went red too. "I don't mean it THAT way, if you get what I mean – Tristan, are you alright??"

He was resting himself beside me on a chair with his arm over his eyes as if he was crying – which I think he was. I sweat dropped again. "Tristan, I'm sorry…."

"No, it's okay Shrimp, I understand, I just got kind of carried away there." He rubbed his eyes and grinned at my reassuringly. "Well, to the answer to your question, I always thought honesty and faith was important in a relationship."

I quickly scribbled that down in my notepad. "Thanks Tristan. Oh yeah, and that 'loved one'.... is it Serenity???" Iasked as I got back up, and then before I went to Ryou in the corner, I turned back to him.

"Uh..... yeah...." He replied awkwardly. "Don't tell anyone, Charybdis."And he held me a thumb up sign. I beamed at him. "It's okay, you're 'secret' is safe with me."

Afterwards………

"Um….. Ryou??"

"Yes Charybdis?" He asked me, not turning from his game.

"Er…. What do YOU think is the most important in L-O-V-E… Love???" I asked him, once again my voice went quiet and shaky. Darn it.

Immediately he went into Game Over mode and looked at me with a small smile. "Why Charybdis, do you like someone?"

"No." I replied quietly.

He looked slightly thoughtful. "Well then, I think I'd better tell you something, maybe give you an example."

"An example?? How Ryou, do you fancy someone too??"

"Not at the moment, no....You asked me my own opinions." He shook his head slightly - that his snowy white hair followed him as his head turned from side to side.

I shut up and let him go on. Ryou advanced over to the jukebox and looked at the available songs. Currently it was playing some kind of catchy rock song, but then he inserted some coins into the slot, and pressed another button, that a new CD flipped and began playing this slow….. dreamy….. song….

"May I?" He asked as he held his palm to me.

I looked around nervously. "What…. In here??????" The arcade wasn't exactly packed, but I could feel all eyes averting from the games to the origins of the sudden change of song. I gulped a little.

"It's alright Charybdis, no-one would see us dancing," He said.

"How do you know?"

"The other people are too occupied with their games to look at us dancing."

"Well, if you say so." I stammered and accepting his outstretched palish palm.

We got into position and then began to 'dance'. Ryou held my sweaty hand tightly as he guided me around. I held my breath and silently wished he'd take his hand off my waist. "That's it, you almost got it Charybdis." He said.

I blinked a little. I guess I must've improved since social dancing at school. I smiled at him awkwardly and nervously. Thus my thoughts had ventured over to Yugi who was beating Joey at a fighting game and I pondered, whether Yami had overheard our conversation and was watching silently and secretly.

"Ouch."

"S-Sorry." I apologised to him. God, this reminded me when I was dancing with Yami at the Christmas party…..

"Ouch."

"Sorry Ryou."

5 minutes later……….

"I thought you said that no-one would look at us!" I hissed at him angrily as I stared at our surroundings. People had abandoned their games to look at us and then even begin dancing themselves with a partner. I felt a little embarrassed

"Do you want your answer or not?" Ryou asked me.

I nodded briefly. "Sorry, go on."

"Well, in dancing, it's like being in love. The beat of the music isn't the most critical, but the pace and rhythms of the dancers are. If you pay too much consideration to your partner's steps, your owns steps will get unnatural, but if you pay too much attention to your own, it'll get affected too."

Amazing. He just breezed through it as if it nothing. I wondered whether he had written it in his hand or something. I thought for a while, not noticing that Ryou had let go of my hand and I stood there on the spot gawking at his back as if he was a love expert. I raised my hands, and then slowly, clapped for a minute or two. He blushed furiously while scratching his head and smiling.

"Wow Ryou…." I croaked at him. "I never knew you knew so much."

He beamed at me. "That's just what I think."

o

_So, you think you know what to do now?_

"Yup, I'm going to draw a mind map all about our relationship!" I chirped cheerfully, as I ripped an A4 sheet of paper out from my pad and grabbed a pen.

I began staring at the paper.

I thought you said you were going to – 

"I am, I need to first of all, focus, gather my concentration up, gather all my feelings and stuff blah, blah, blah, until I can do this."

_Well, if you say so. _

Then I began writing the words 'My Love Life' in the middle, drew a pink cloud around it and then a leg protruding out of it, then wrote the word 'Yami' then drew another leg with the word 'Me' connected to it and drew pink clouds around those two.

o

"Yup, I got everything written down and sorted." I replied to Scylla while finishing my 'touches' to the spider diagram that lay in front of me on the surface of my desk. I lifted it up, walked to my vanity mirror and showed her it; she took a quick glance at it, before looking back at me.

_Great. Now, you read over it. _

So I did, I took it and sat back on my bed, reading through all the things I just scribbled down messily about all of my feelings and other stuff. As I delved further into my own written piece I felt even more confused and as if realisation had finally been sowed into my brain. "Do…. Do I really feel that way??"

_You wrote it._

"Wow, I never really realised how much was in my brain, all of these stuff just popped in my blank mind and then I just wrote and wrote and wrote." I gawked at my four pages long 'essay' in my hands and then made a reach for my stapler. I stapled the sheets together and then hastily wrote my name down.

"Better not let anyone see this, especially Yami… for now."


	26. Visions of The Past

Hi ppl, okay, first things first, Marik is half good and half bad in this story, he still has the Millennium Rod – although Yami received it at the end of battle city, I just wanted to change it a bit. Oh yeah, Ishizu also has the Millennium Necklace too. Beware of OOCness – you have been warned (I haven't seen a lot of episodes with Marik).

**Chapter 26**

**Visions Of The Past**

I tiptoed around the corner, watching the guy who had just robbed me clean from my locket with Scylla in it and then run off into this unknown place, which happens to be Domino Harbour, where it is filled with boats, docks, surrounded by water but also rather empty of people.

I was just walking home today from the nearby Seven Eleven with groceries for home when I just turned a corner into an alleyway and then this guy wearing a purple cloak challenged me to a short duel.

So first of all, I was like, "Excuse me, I don't duel, sorry." But he wouldn't listen and forced me into a duel because I was surrounded by more of the weird men who wouldn't let me go. Okay, my duelling skills weren't/aren't great, so I lost, and guess what?? Not only did I have NO rare card in my deck as a prize he was supposed to claim from me, he instead, took MY locket as his prize!!!!!! So now I have followed him secretly, not asking for trouble – but maybe to find his origins so I can report him.

Huh, I can spot that purple-cloaked freak advancing towards this boat at the corner, hidden amongst other boats, and then he disappeared inside. I tiptoed over, dashing from one boat, hiding behind it, then zoomed to the other, then finally made my way cautiously up to the boat that dude just went inside.

Frowning, I quickly clambered onto the boat as if I was mountain climbing – there was a rope dangling from the boat which attached to the pier so I used that to heave myself up, with my eyes closed since the water looked pretty deep, dark and blue below me.

Until I reached the deck I peered up to check if there was anyone on board. Seeing no one, I hitched my leg over the bar, and climbed onto the deck, egg-rolled over behind the vent, as if doing another stunt from Mission Impossible and egg-rolled back over to a door I saw on the side. The only thing I needed was a theme song….

I rose up on my knees slightly up to the small porthole window of the door, making sure there was no one there, and after doing so, I opened the door slowly and quietly, and then crouched down low, and slid myself on my stomach past the corridor. There were a couple of doors at each side, all closed, until I came across a door visible at the end of the corridor. It was open and I stopped crawling on my stomach and began grovelling over until I heard the loud shouting mixed with angry commotion and even somefunny noisestaking place in that room, I had stopped midway.

I gulped. Whoever was in that room….. was going to be nasty and scary. Then there was a loud crash, followed by a bloodcurdling scream from a man and then silence, before there was a sigh of disappointment and then I saw a shadow approaching and immediately scrambled to look for a hiding place, but there was none so I remained there, sweating and praying to god.

The purple-cloaked guy who stole my locket just walked past me. I blinked; my mouth was covered by my hand to stop me from whining with terror but then removed quickly when he just waddled past me as if I was invisible – which I was not!

One of my legs which was sprawled over the ground made him trip up, and he crashed onto the floor. Was he…. blind or something? Anyone could've seen my frightened form on the ground and my leg that was accidentally a skewed in front of him. But then again, I reluctantly went to his side, and then I shook him gently.

"Hey dude, are you alright?" I whispered to him, hating myself if he woke up.

His eyes were vacant and just plain creepy, wide stretched, and blanky white like that….. He didn't even move and lay there, just as a voice broke through behind the door in the room. "Just leave that fool alone, and get on with your work!" Then the door slammed shut.

I gasped and scrambled back to the wall again, before grovelling back over to the closed door, up to the window where I saw a guy, with dusty blondish hair and dark skin, hunched over the desk at the end of the room beside a bed, holding something between his hands. He moved a little so I could see his hands. He was holding this funny golden baton (wow, you don't see that everyday!) and…. MY LOCKET!!!!

Then he turned and I ducked from view, waiting for a couple of more minutes before peeping back up to find the place empty. I stared at the desk. He had taken the locket with him – wherever he went. Thinking quickly, I reluctantly lifted the man on the floor up, taking off his cloak and then draping it around me and putting the huge baggy hood up over my head and entering the room. If anyone saw me just wearing a green trousers and pink top (yes, that is what I am wearing today – unfortunately most of my stuff are in the wash from my wardrobe covered with mothballs – the smell isn't going away) they'd get suspicious so if I'm wearing their 'uniform' then it wouldn't be so suspicious.

Okay, taking someone's who seems to be on cloud nine or just lost their brain privileges to some unknown stranger's possessions isn't a good idea. After wrapping the cloak right around me and to securing the floppy areas that were too big for me with an elastic band, I stepped into the room quietly, lifting the hood up slightly to see.

I quietly as possible, tiptoed over to a cupboard, and then opened the first drawer, and began ransacking through the contents. Hmmm, a pair of keys…. Sunglasses…. Some sort of clip…. A gold chain….. Nope, my locket wasn't inside, so I closed it and began searching through.

A few seconds later……

Still cannot locate locket and I have searched through most of the cupboards, except from that wardrobe in the corner. I went through the contents, only to find underwear and other clothes belonging to a male who takes quite a medium size. Immediately I went red and poked my head out from the wardrobe and shut it behind me, before going to another cupboard to check.

Hmm, what was this??

There appears to be a slight door at the end of the room. I twisted the knob slowly, only to find it locked and shrugged, then continued to look through the cupboard.

"What are you doing??"

Quickly I spun around to face the owner of the new voice in the room and kicked the open drawer shut behind me. The same man from before was standing at the door that I tried to open. Instantly my eyes locked onto his sturdy bare chest, then at the towel that was draped across his lower body.

"I thought I told you to wait outside!" He barked at me and then I looked away, but then sneaked another peek at his fit body and realised that he was eyeing me suspiciously – since my eyes were glued to it now.

What?? I don't always see a quite… good-looking guy wearing nothing but a towel everyday!

I nodded quickly, and then looked down and brushed past him to the door, opening it and quickly closing it behind me.

Afterwards……….

"You may come in now."

Panting, I quickly opened the door again and entered the room, where my eyes now laid on the tanned male with dusty blonde hair and soft lilac eyes who was lying on his stomach on the bed, the towel still draped over his lower body but his back covered with tattoos flashed at me. Then my eyes wandered from his lower body to the desk beside him, where my locket lay.

"You may start on my waist." He said impatiently.

I paused, my eyebrows stretched up, I gasped, wheezed and covered my open mouth with my hand. Then I began sobbing, crying even and I croaked out to him: "I'm not selling my body!" I squeaked, shaking my head vigorously. "I only want my locket back!"

He raised an eyebrow, and then got up, securing his towel once more, and walked over to me. "You – Your voice…."

Curse my Thyroid Glands!!! (I think that's the hormones controlling your vocal chords)

Then he quickly pulled my hood back to reveal my long hair and looks and I knew I was in deep trouble. He gasped and stood back a little. "A-A woman?!?!"

I blinked at him.

"Odion!!!"

OH NO OH NO. WHAT HAVE YOU GOTTEN YOURSELF INTO, CHARYBDIS????? I immediately spun around on my heel and pushed the door open after grabbing for my locket at the desk and then sprinting out quickly, realising that this tall, bulky guy wearing another purple cloak was heading my way and then I turned to the other direction away from him and the others.

"Get her!!! She's getting away!!!"

I couldn't believe it, my first ever run-away situation! Yet I was terrified in case I WAS caught – what would happen??? That almost nude dude is going to punish me by making me into another lifeless idiot like the other guy!! I was running around in circles in the boat, sometimes meeting with other purple cloaked men chased after me and slamming into several doors along the way and entering inside then exiting, but luckily I rounded out of the corners and dead ends, try to keep away from the dead ends and managed to run into the deck of the boat where my ticket out of here was in front of me!!

I leapt; half screaming and crying when I fell flat face on the hard wooden harbour. I had leapt almost up to two to three metres in height – gosh, no wonder!! I scrabbled up from my position, after hearing more angry yells and scrambled to the far corner of the harbour, and found myself sandwiched in between warehouses and the street to Domino. Wiping my sweat off my face and breathing into my inhaler, I pulled the cloak off me and flung it into a nearby trashcan, before running back to civilisation.

Then I found myself walking along a familiar street – the one with Ishizu's shop in it! I decided to stop by her little shop on the way and maybe even question her about a couple of terms. "Hello?? Ishizu??" I stepped into the dimly lit room and found her sitting behind the dark counter; she looked up at me. "Hello Charybdis, what brings you here?" She asked me curiously.

I dragged a chair over and plopped beside her and pondered for a while, before looking back at her. "Promise me…. You'll keep this as a secret between you and me?" I muttered, looking around the empty shop.

She nodded. "Of course."

"Ever since I showed you the locket Yami gave me….. I found out, that I have another being inside me."

"Another… being??"

I nodded slowly, not sure whether to go on yet knowing I was safe with Ishizu. "Her name is Scylla…. She – " I looked back at the locket hanging around my neck and then swallowed, before taking it off me and placing it down on the desk. In that way, Scylla has no opportunity and access to listen to our conversation… after all, her soul is half connected with the locket…

"Scylla won't tell me anything, I don't even know how old she is, she – she seems really quiet, unhappy and constantly wants me to help her." I added.

"Help her?"

"Uh huh."

"With what?"

"I don't know… I was wondering if you could help me, you seem to know a lot."

"I sensed another presence within your locket when you arrived here with the Pharaoh."

"Scylla was…. Already inside me?? I… didn't even know! I… don't even know her properly."

"Maybe I should show you, if you are very unsure of her past, she cannot really be trusted."

"Show me??"

"Indeed, with the powers of my Millennium Necklace!" She stood up, and her necklace began glowing brightly that I had to shield my eyes from the intensity. This was so totally uncalled for!!!

"Are you ready, Charybdis?" She asked.

"No – I mean, yeah… I am now!!!"

The light faded, slowly, and I took my arm away from my eyes when Ishizu's voice had died down, and blinked. I was standing in some kind of huge and posh-looking room. I was standing beside the dressing table at the other corner of the room opposite the huge bed.

The man covered in the dark shadows moved over towards me and instantly I began trembling, stepping back and trying to squish myself into the small corner. "Come in." He said sternly, seating himself upon the chair that was just in front of me and I gasped, not daring to move as I stared wide-eyed at him from behind.

Hmmm….. the man had a wild, spiky hairstyle of the colours dark red, black and gold bangs, there was even some misplaced accessories in his hair – some sort of gold hair band. Immediately I got the word: ROYALTY in my mind already as I stared at the gold plated clothes he had on. Honestly, I know the shadows covering him was trying to make his appearance to seem forbidden to me, I couldn't see his eyes but I could really notice that that was Yami – who could miss out the extra streaks of gold in his hair? I mean, Yugi only had gold bangs….

The doors opened and this girl waddled in, with messy waist length black hair and dull emerald eyes. "My Pharaoh…." She said as she closed the doors behind her and then moving over and bowing in front of Yami.

I blinked. Pharaoh??? Yami??

"You called for me??" The girl asked timidly.

"Get up, Scylla, there is no need for you to bow in here, we are alone."

"I…. apologise, my Pharaoh." She stood up wearily, only to have Yami's hand which was outstretched to her pull her over to him and sit on his lap.

Yami cuddled her close – like the way he does that to me and smirked; I stared at them both in confusion.

"Scylla, you always work hard around here, how would you like to become my personal maid?" He asked her, kissing her cheek.

Scylla stared at the floor and shrugged. "I… do not mind, my Pharaoh…. As long as I am by your side…." She finished off quietly.

"I want you to have this." Yami presented her with my locket that he fished out from the desk beside him. Scylla stared at it.

"I… cannot accept that…." She muttered.

He blinked at her. "Why not??"

"I… do not have the right to wear such a worthy thing…. Given by the Pharaoh himself, I ma nothing but a slave."

Yami smirked once more. "Nonsense, it is especially for you." He pressed the locket into her hand and used his hand to tilt her face to face him; about to kiss her once more until there was a loud knock on the door and Scylla pushed herself off his lap back onto the floor and straightened herself while Yami was cursing and scowling under his breath.

I blinked at them both. Scylla and Yami??? Together???


	27. Breakup Initiation

**Chapter 27**

**Break-Up Initiation**

"Are you alright Charybdis??"

Ishizu's voice boomed out aloud and I jerked up in my seat, panting. "Wha – ???" I noticed that I was back in the present unknowingly. I breathed hard and then turned back to Ishizu. "Let me see more, Ishizu, please?? I wanna find out – about Scylla… that 'clip' you just showed me, I… didn't understand anything - I think."

"…Very well, be prepared."

That familiar glow emitted once more, and then I was suddenly standing behind Scylla who was standing on the edge of this tower, staring down below and muttering things to herself.

"Scylla??" I stammered to her.

She didn't hear, fingered the locket that was in her palm and I treaded cautiously up to her. Scylla placed the locket into a small pocket visible at the side of her dress before suddenly moving her foot slowly, and then she fell forward down quickly and before I even knew what she was even doing.

"Scylla!!!!!!!" I screamed, running over to catch her (if I could) but suddenly my palm that was supposed to grab onto her leg just went through it and she just plunged down while I screamed as her body lay on the ground.

Her hair was covering most of her face, yet her eyes remained open and lifeless. Blood was seeping from her head and down her forehead into a small pool at her side. Her beige dress was stained and smothered in the blood. The locket beside her opened and then closed shut. It seemed as if a spotlight had casted down onto her distorted body and then it finally dawned to me that I had just witnessed someone committing suicide.

I screamed. I screamed and screamed and screamed.

"Charybdis!!!"

I didn't stop screaming yet until Ishizu shook me fiercely – I stopped, panting and sweating again. I choked, and then began crying loudly and hysterically.

"I am sorry you had to see that." She said softly to me as she let go of my shoulders.

I didn't stop crying when she handed me a tissue. "That – That – Scylla… she… fell.. .locket…. waaaaahhhhh!!!!"

o

"Are you sure you are fine??" Ishizu asked me just before I left the shop with the locket.

I had nodded to her and then waved goodbye, although just after several baby steps outside to the street, I had begun wailing and sniffing again. I stared at the locket around my neck, snorting, I managed to breathe out. "Why did you kill yo – AAAARRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"

Something hit me when I crossed the road without looking and I flew to the side and landed on the empty road, my head hitting the ground and I sat back up, rubbing my throbbing head furiously as I tried to make out who had hit me by accident.

A motorbike lay on the ground a distance away from me on the side, and the driver moved his feet from underneath and shook his head sideways to relieve the shock. Then he took off his helmet and cursed, before lifting up his motorbike and guiding it to the pavement, and then he walked over to me.

I groaned and stood up groggily, staring at the guy, and then I shrieked once more.

"YOU!!!" We both said in unison as we pointed at each other.

"Keep your eyes on the road!!" He shouted.

Suddenly I had the urge to scream once more, get the grief and terror I had just experienced out from me and I did. "AAARRGGGHHHH!!!!" I screamed loudly and began crying and wailing hysterically. "Don't hurt me!!! I am innocent!!!" And then I squeezed my eyes shut tightly and covered my head with my arms to brace for impact.

Ishizu ran out of her shop to see the guy in the boat back there with his hands on my collar and lifting me up. "Marik!! Drop the poor girl!!"

"Sister?? You know this girl??" The Marik guy dropped me and I fell on the ground painfully. Ishizu helped me up and immediately I ran behind her, shaking and trembling as Marik eyed me suspiciously.

o

It turned out that everything was just a 'misunderstanding', and I left the shop once more with a plaster on my bloody knee, one over my nose and on the side of my right cheek, which had been scraped due to the accident before. Ishizu told Marik to take me home on the motorbike since it was getting late but I refused, thanked them first and then left.

I just took some more baby steps away when Marik revved the motorbike beside me – he had probably snuck out from the back door. "Get on, or Ishizu would be angry with me for letting you return home by yourself."

"…. Eh… Is that thing even safe???" I muttered, and then Marik got off his bike and dragged me over, seating me behind him and detaching another helmet attached to the side of his bike. He threw it at me and I didn't catch it, making it bounce on top of my head and I yelped.

"To find out you have to let me take you home." He replied, grinning slightly.

I shrugged as I stared at his waist…. Then reluctantly wrap my arms around him. "Take me to Domino High, that's the nearest." I ordered impassively. Heh, I didn't want him to know my home address in case he'd begin stalking me…..

The motorbike was faster than I had imagined. He was obviously speeding – but did he care?? NO!!! I screamed a couple of times and my arms tightened around him when he swerved dangerously close to pavements and other cars, and darted in between laughing and yelling at drivers while I cringed and hid behind him. When he reached Domino High, I hopped off the bike, took off the helmet and then checking my hair in the side mirror of his motorbike, noticing that the wind had made it go all fuzzy and sticking out at odd angles.

I muttered my thanks, dwaddling off to the direction of home as I watched him drive off with a slight smirk waving at me before disappearing round the corner.

o

A few days later, I had another scheduled meeting with Yami and the others at the mall back at the arcade. It was lunchtime when I met him wandering around the arcade with his hands in pockets. The others were already at their games playing and I sought this chance and told Joey and Tea that I was going to the toilets with Yugi and dragged Yami out of the arcade, and down an empty corridor of the mall near the toilets.

I breathed hard as I stood beside him. Okay, this was it. I turned back round to face Yami, who was staring at the window looking at the traffic below.

"Yami??" I mumbled nervously.

He swerved his eyes over to me.

I exhaled again. "Let's break up." I squeaked out to him.

He turned around quickly. "What do you mean??"

"I mean by let's-break-up-and-never-see-each-other-again." I said slowly, trying to avoid the wobbly note in my voice that I tried so hard to cover up.

"Why??" He asked questioningly.

God does he have to ask so many questions??? Curiosity, curiosity.

"Because…. You…. You're dead, that's what."

"I thought we talked over this, Charybdis."

"Well I want to talk over it AGAIN. Okay?? First is, you're dead, second, you're a spirit, third, you're sharing a body with Yugi, although you're not with Tea, each time I see Yugi with Tea, it makes me feel really unhappy and fourth, er (I tried to think of a reason)….. Okay, let me ask you this, if Yugi and I fell into the water, whom would you save first? " I replied sternly.

He blinked. "Why are you saying this?"

"Just answer my question."

Yami didn't say anything. AHA! I knew it! "If Joey and I were in the water who would you save?"

Still nothing.

"If Tea and I were in the water, who – "

"Charybdis, stop asking me these abysmal questions!"

"I'd rather put my friends before me, Yami. I'd rather Tea and Yugi have a better future than me with you. That's why I want to break up; this was not a full time commitment of a relationship anyway.

He didn't say a word.

"Okay, let's go onto YOUR problems." I said angrily.

"Charybdis… What problems do I have??" He asked questioningly.

I blinked as well, and then bit my lip, regretting the words that were going to burst from my mouth as I straightened myself. "Of course you have problems." I hated it already. "You never listen to what I have to say, you don't know what I like, you have no body of your own, we've only been dating for three something months, each time when you're sad or angry I feel sad and angry too. And I hate it when I look at you my feet turn to jelly."

That was just a couple of lame excuses. Oh my god – why AM I saying this? I'd be grateful and calling out to daddy because I had such a good looking and caring boyfriend – yet everything wasn't perfect – yet. Hmm, should I also tell the fact that I know someone who he had loved but not in the future since he had lost his memory, and should I also tell him that I had just witnessed someone's death which is probably revolving back at his past again? And should I also tell him that he is dead??

"Then I will change for you."

I choked, a small smile forming, but then secretly hid under a laugh. "Change??? What good will that make?? Would you really change for me?? You're the King of Games, you know you're perfect already, you're too nice for me that when I want something of a small amount at least, you get me something huge that I feel unworthy of your love… what right do I have to be with you?? I never did anything for you anyway."

Oh my god. I cannot believe I was saying this. Most girls should be happy that their boyfriends got them something greater than they wanted and here I am complaining and moaning about him getting me something BETTER than what I had wanted.

He grabbed me firmly by the shoulders and shook me hard. "Charybdis, I love you, I would…. Throw away my title for you."

"I don't want you to!!!" I screamed back at him, struggling under his iron grip but to no avail.

"Then what do you want??"

"I'm not listening to this!!!" I shouted, now rather infuriated. "Let go of me, Yami!!"

Yami gritted his teeth and his eyes flashed a dangerous crimson. "I will not let go of you until I acquire an explanation, Charybdis!! We were fine before, you accepted our relationship, why are you demanding for a break up now??!!"

"What else is there to explain, Yami?? Let-Go-Of-Me-A.S.A.P-Right now!!" I yelled.

"No!!" He yelled furiously back to me and then he shoved me into the wall beside the girl's toilets, his hands moving from my shoulders to my wrists and he pinned me there, panting heavily.

Something inside me screamed to me to run away, yet I couldn't.

He quickly captured my lips with his and forced me into a kiss. I continued to struggle feebly but again with no success and the only way I found was the answer to get out was to respond. So I did reluctantly; I was finding it hard not to succumb to his affections. God the power of his kiss was so intense – I hated him even more. His hands moved from my wrists to my waist, and he held me closer to him. I was finding it hard to breathe now and suddenly remembering why I had come here in the first place; I managed to push him off me with all the strength I could muster, and the courage to do so.

My palm rose up unconsciously and I slapped him squarely across the cheek. He was breathing hard as he rubbed the slightly red cheek. I stared at my palm in confusion and then I inhaled and exhaled.

"Stop it Yami!! Now you're just acting like Bakura in a way – obsessive, stubborn, full of lust, and just plain scary!! This is the last time I'm going to say this!! We're through! We're over!!!!!"

Then suddenly this funny feeling surged through me. I was about to move, but then I felt this sharp pain in me and I broke down, sobbing from the words which I just screamed out, but the pain inside me was unbearable, I coughed, spluttered and felt faint. Yami ran by my side and shook me gently. "Charybdis?? Are you okay?? What's the matter??" he asked worriedly.

"Leave me alone!!" I pushed him off and struggled to stand back up.

"Charybdis!!" My friends came running over and glanced at Yami. "What happened?? You two were at the bathroom for a long time, so we came to check up."

"Gurlie, are you okay??" Joey asked me.

"I'm… I'm okay… .Sorry guys…. I… have to go now!!" I blurted out quickly, and then I stormed past them, giving Yami one more glance/glare before running out.


	28. Truth Out

Ah, I am glad many people like my story so far. I just think I've put this story into 'jeopardy' and have put it into the totally WRONG way. Maybe it is going downfall, and is going to end up falling away from my brain? I've also been thinking, this story is about to end soon in probably about from Chapter 30 – 32 or something. I don't havemuch ideas yet, it's just a hunch – lol.

And, the answers to reviwers from Chapter 27:

**Gardevoir-Mages: **Well, Charybdis seems to have thought about a lot of things lately. After all, she is still a student, and Scylla, her 'supposedly yami' isn't helping her much either.

**L.D. Kaket: **Hmm, what is going inside Charybdis' head? Maybe this chapter will sort things out – probably. LOL.

**Scarlett and Scar:** Yes, I suppose I am known to make evil cliffies. It's fun muahahahahahaha – watching all of my readers perish while I am one step ahead! LOOOOOOOOL. And I'll do one more today, yay! (Heh)

**Aiko:** Well, I am Chinese/British. I actually have more of a Scottish accent, and I understand what 'Haud yer wheesht' means, lol. I'm also glad you like this story. I thought my story was quite a pretty cheesy idea, actually. Hmm, and Marik being nice to her was quite a weird thing, if I say so myself.

**Stranger Than Emily:** Wow, I thought Charybdis would be less like other teenage girls. LOL.

**Laura:** Ack, your ideas are superb, yet I do not know what to write with it! I feel as though I don't want to keep writing Cosmo Girl because I can't handle writing another blasted chapter. ARRRGGGHHHHHH……..

**Samnag:** Do you think Charybdis and Yami will get together again? (Ok, I'm the author so I should know, but what is YOUR opinion?) Do you think Charybdis and Yami were ever supposed to be? (I should actually be asking myself that, actually………)

**Faith:** Charybdis' had been acting like an eager mcbeaver lately. Sighs, I'm actually very bad at writing sad scenes, and watching sad movies make me cry, like Dumbo for an instant. I kept crying buckets. As for romantic scenes? I'm an absolute sucker. Fluff just gets the best at me and I shy away when I realise what I have written.

**Chapter 28**

**Truth Out**

"Scylla, what's happening?" I asked her as I stood in the bathroom

She stared back at me, her mouth moving_. I apologise… I…. I saw him…._

Yami.

"Why are you so afraid? Why did you kill yourself?" I asked her eagerly.

_Because… Because…._ _He was the Pharaoh…. He said he loved me.. .gave me the locket you wear around your neck… but he already had a betrothed. _

"So? You still could've been with him."

_No… It does not work that way… Did you not learn anything from the visions Ishizu showed you?_

"So you did know I looked into your past….."

_I was only a lowly slave… nobody gave me respect… except from Pharaoh… Atem…. He said he would only have me as his personal maid… I… still could not be with him the way I wanted to… so I decided that life was no longer important… there was no more meaning in life for me to exist…. _

"Scylla, how could you be so selfish? What about your loved ones?"

_I didn't have any loved ones….. I was sold into the palace at an early age. _

"Scylla, I'm…. sorry….I'll help you." I told her quietly, staring at her intently as she stared at the floor.

"Charybdis, I need you to take me to the Twilight Junction." Scylla asked quickly.

"The what ?" I asked in confusion.

"The Twilight Junction…. Here, I had better spoken with you in our minds, it will be better."

o

"Scylla?"

Somehow, I felt extremely weird to be supposedly standing in front of the mirror and talking to my reflection, while I was actually into my deep, darkest consciousness.

I walked around the bright, blue walls of my assumed 'mind'. I really needed more interior designing in this place. I came across an open door – at the right where more blue walls were decorated inside, and as I came inside I totally screamed – there were torn and slashed pictures of Yami everywhere – on the floor, walls etc. This was probably reflecting on our 'break-up' a minute ago. I exited from the room and came across another room – the door was once again opened, and I stepped in.

"Scylla I know you're in there, come out." I said as I glanced around the eerie darkness. God – I could practically see nothing.

There was a muffled squeak, and then a sniffle and more sobs at the corner and the light flickered on. In the room there was vines canoodling out from the walls, stuck in between the brown bricks and dirt over the whole place indicating old age. I raised an eyebrow.

"This is your room?"

My doppelganger stepped into view, wearing the same clothes as me except it looked much neater and tidier on her than me. Her hair was slightly messier, but looked nice in way. Her eyes glowed dully in the light once it reflected. She rubbed her eyes and nodded. "I brought you here." Scylla face looked in between anger and worry.

"Why are you so afraid of Yami?"

"You mean – Atem…." She mumbled as she sat cross-legged on a dusty brick, staring at the floor.

"Yeah.. .whatever…. "

"I…. I feel ashamed of seeing him. I found life no longer worthy of my existence."

"You told me that before." I said softly, sitting beside her. "You have to at least speak to him."

"N-N-No…."

"Fine, remain a coward during your ghostly years." I replied.

"Charybdis…."

"Come on, you need to calm down and think about it. There's no need to scream and shout. You were being a bit hysterical back there – you were giving me such a headache because you wanted me to get away from there as quick as possible. Yami doesn't really remember about his past anyway." I said quickly – realising how much things Scylla had conjured up just to grab my attention.

"I….. I am sorry." She squeaked.

"I think you can do it, explain things with him – although I don't understand your relationship with Yami, I get the feeling that you two liked each other a lot." I couldn't surpass the feeling of slight jealousy brewing inside me.

"Well…. Um… if he cannot recall his past, then….."

"Don't worry, I know what to do."

"You do?"

"I'm sure Yami will remember a slightest bit of history with you. Do you still like him?" I said nervously.

Scylla looked back down, and then shook her head slowly. "No…. I have lost…. That feeling between us." She replied. "Besides, he has developed a liking to you now. Do not feel bad, Charybdis. I have something else on my mind now."

"Oh….." Poor Scylla. I didn't know what to say to her. She really has to get rid of that darkness in her heart and look into the world with some hope about her relationship and her mistakes– I suppose. But then again, I frowned slightly. Scylla and Yami were together in the past. I'm with Yamiin the future – why am I getting this clenchy feeling in my heart? Is it….. jealousy?

No, it can't be. I broke up with Yami. I can't be with him anyway. He hasn't got his own body. I'd rather put Yugi, Tea and Yami before me. I'd rather Yugi and Tea have a better future than I do together. My relationship with Yami was just a mistake – he and I were never supposed to be together in the first place. Although I sort of got the feeling that what I had screamed and bloody done was just morally plain wrong, and Yami had turned into this scary person I didn't know because of me. i'd just brought up this stupid topic and it's totally wrecked our relationship. I fingered the scrap paper inside the pocket which was folded messily.

The paper I had wrote down all about my problems with me and Yami. The paper which Scylla told me to write down to 'help' me. I glared, anger flashing through me, and I torie it up, threw it at theground nd pounced on it several times until it had turned into a sagging pulp on the floor. Scylla stared at me but I ignored her and continued cursing at Yami.

Even he can kiss so passionately and affectionately that I want to throw myself into his arms first, even if his smile can melt my heart and turn my legs to jelly; I've already decided to give him up.

So why can't I still get the scenes back at the arcade away from my head?

Why do I feel as if I didn't have to break up with him?

Why do I feel as though I've really hurt him?

Why do I feel like a bloody goddamn loser?

Stoopid Yami….. Stoopid Yami…..

"I HATE YOU! I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!" I suddenly bellowed out loud.

Scylla blinked. "Are you alright?"

"NO I AM NOT ALRIGHT! YOU THINK IT IS EASY JUST A COUPLE OF MINUTES EFTER (after) MA BLOODY BREAK UP! YA THINK IT IS EASY THAT I FEEL EXTRA CRUMMY AND LIKE BLOODY COW POOP IN A FIELDBECAUSE I HAVE JUST SCREAMED AT MY BOYFRIEND AND NOW I HAVE VOLUNTEERED TO HELP YOU IN THIS STINKIN' DUMP YOU CALL YER SOUL ROOM! WELL NO SIREE, I DO NOT CARE, I DON'T GIVE A BLOODY DAMN, I DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT IT, SO Y'ALL JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

My face was red all over. "I'm... sorry... I... I gotta learn how to control ma anger..." I said breathlesly.

We sat together for a couple of minutes after I managed to cool down. "You know… it's really nice in here….. I don't want to go back and face Yami again." Great, I was thinking of changing the subject but then I just brought UP the subject again.

Scylla giggled. "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you wish, this is our mind."

I smiled. "Really? Then why don't we make this worth our while? It's quite a shame I didn't realise I didn't find this out sooner or later." I cringed as I said that. I'd just been screaming for a bloody half hour about how much of a dump this place was. Well, coming to think of it, it was pretty quiet in here, and peaceful.

A few more minutes later…..

We had been talking for quite some time, that I hadn't noticed how long we had been here. I stood up and dusted my clothes, before looking back at Scylla who was quiet and still as a mouse in her seat worriedly.

"Scylla? What powers…. Do you have?"

She smiled at me dryly. "You wish to find out?"

"Um… yeah…. It'll be cool. Is something going to happen to me? Tell me more."

"Be prepared. Well, it is not like a power,to be honest, butI will take you back to my past…. Five thousand years ago." She said, rather cheerful than normal. Then she turned to me. "I will only show you an illusion though, I cannot interfere with history, am I clear?"

"Um, right."

Then the pendant around both our necks began glowing and I stepped back. "AAARRGGGHHHH! What's happening!" I asked nervously, only to find myself surrounded by complete shadows. "Scylla? Are you there?"

Somehow I knew this was NOT a good idea.

o

I woke up, not in my own bed, but in some kind of rock-hard thing with just straw on top in a brown, grimy room with a small wooden table at the middle just beside the bed where I lay and a wooden box at the corner. I sat up, suddenly taking the intense heat and something got the message that I was not still in Domino – the heat here was far too extreme!

Immediately I grabbed the water jug on the table after limping across the dirty floor after noticing that I was barefooted – and drank the whole contents down, only to spit some out because some of the water went down the wrong way. I inhaled and exhaled a little after feeling a teensy bit cooler and I tugged at the low collar of the new dress I was wearing.

Hmm…. It was a sort of peachy white colour, had short sleeves and just stretched down above my knees. My skin looked different – slightly darker and I noticed that my hair looked longer, but extra greasy and dry…. Scylla's words echoed in my ears and I remembered that she had taken me back to the past to take a walk in her shoes – only this seems far too real to exact…..

I waddled over to a couple of shattered pieces of what looked like a mirror to see myself.

Well, I still had my good ol' brown boring eyes, slightly dry lips and rather rough skin over my cheeks. I ransacked around the wooden box at the corner – I'd only found some more dresses, ripped sandals, and then, deep within below the clothes was the locket and I pulled it slowly. It was too bright gold that I had to shield my eyes from it. So this was what my locket looked like five thousand years ago…… It looked so new, and… even more beautiful than what it looked like in the future.

"Scylla!"

Someone's voice shrilled throughout the quiet room and I leapt, instantly shoving the locket back down into the wooden box and under the pile of dresses, as I turned round.

"Hurry up and get moving! Everyone has already left and are working, hurry up and get ready!" She shouted to me. I blinked at her, then looked around, finally noticing all the other empty beds and realised this was a maid's quarters. I blinked again. She wasn't talking in English, but I could hear her loud and clear. It was eerie….. and soon I found myself replying back in their language.

"I'll be down in a jiffy." I paused. Wow… I actually spoke another language without even knowing it!

The girl with shoulder length black hair blinked at me, before turning back out. "Wait!" I called after her. "What am I supposed to do?"

The girl sighed. "You have been lost in your own mind lately, Scylla. You are to clean out the Pharaoh's chambers, but first you are to join the rest of us for our morning meal."

"Oh… okay…"


	29. Yami, Great Pharaoh of Egypt

**Chapter 29**

**Yami, Great pharaoh of Egypt**

I stared at the bowl and plate that was set in my hands. There was a small loaf of bread on the plate, and some sort of gruesome looking colourless sludge sloshed around. I swallowed as soon as I saw the other maids around me chattering noisily about stuff happening in the palace and eating the broth at the same time without the use of utensils. I couldn't believe we had to eat out here, in the tables beside the kitchen where most maids worked and where the sun shone down I felt like a roast pig.

"Scylla!"

I continued staring at my bowl.

"Scylla!"

Huh? "Yeah?" I asked, forgetting that I was addressed here as Scylla, not Charybdis. I gotta act as if I WAS Scylla – though I had no idea how her personality was back in the past. I found myself in an extremely tricky situation.

The same girl from before walked over, carrying her own bowl and plopped herself down beside me. "What are you doing with that?"

She pointed at the broth and I glanced over at it. "Uh… breakfast?" I replied enquiringly.

"No, no, no!" She snatched the bowl out from my hands and I blinked once more. "Hey, what's the big idea?"

"You are not to eat these."

"Why not?" I asked questioningly.

"As one of the Pharaoh's personal maids, you do not have to eat these food, here follow me." She led my hand and guided me back to the counter and picked up the tray at the corner. "This is what we eat."

"We? Are.. you… one of the Pharaoh's personal maids too?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

"Scylla….?" She asked surprisingly (I actually pondered whether she was named Scylla too when she said that….). "Are you okay? We have known each other ever since. I am Ama-Knet."

"Ama… Net? Oh… right, right! Ama gurl, yeah… I know you… I'm Scylla… I'm the Pharaoh's personal maid, yeah, yeah… I got it." I replied cheerfully.

Ama-Knet stared at me. "Are you sure you are fine?"

"Of course!" I grabbed the tray from her, and looked at the food there. Another loaf of bread, a small cup of some concoction and a bowl of something that looked better than the broth I had before.

However I stared at the loaf. I'd better not use my hands to eat it, they'll all filthy, and filled with grime and dust in the nails. Hesitantly I hunted around the place, and eventually went to the palm tree beside our table and snapped one of the twigs off, then returned to my seat and bent them into shape. Ama-Knet wildly eyed the utensils I was using to cut the thick loaf in half.

"What are those? I have never seen those before…." She said.

I grinned. "Why… this is called, a knife…. And this is called a fork." I replied smugly. "Dear girl, you better begin to manufacture these in gold to make eating chow easier in life."

Ama-Knet 'oohed' at me and continued staring at the 'knife' and 'fork' I had in my hands.

o

"Wow…. This is good… what is it?" I asked, as I slurped the sweet contents inside the small cup.

"That is beer (sorry, I researched ancient Egyptian civilisation and only managed to find out that they drank beer, which was made out from barley and emmer - at least that's what people in lower hierarchy drank as refreshments)." Ama-knet replied as she bit her loaf.

"Beer, cool, this is much, much better than what I get most of the days." I stood up from my seat after finishing the cup and then advanced back at the counter, and I shoved the empty cup at the maid who was in charge to give out food. "More please." I said cheerfully.

"Scylla, you have already exceeded your daily number of beer." She said.

"Eh? I only had five cups." I retorted helplessly at the maid who shrugged back at me.

"Yes, I know, but the rules clearly state that in the position as just a mere maid will only just get about five cups of refreshments daily." She replied.

"Oh, and who made those rules up!" I barked at her.

"The Pharaoh, of course."

I stiffened immediately. Duh! Yami/Atemu bloody runs the whole country! I slapped myself mentally. How can I not forget? Yet again I retreated back to my seat in disappointment. I seemed to be realising that I had grown a strong addiction to the beer and I stared at the large bowl in the counter along with other food hungrily and sadly.

o

Ama-Knet and I walked down the almost-empty corridor (after washing my hands squeaky clean of course – using water from some sort of small well… ) to the supposedly destination of the Pharaoh's chambers. I thought for a while. I wondered what would happen if I did see the Pharaoh; what would I do. He doesn't know Charybdis exists. He'll just think I'm Scylla, and once he realises I'm not then – whoa. Hold it. How would anyone find out I'm not Scylla? Well, probably if I blab it out that I come from the future yadda yadda yadda. But would they believe me? Heck no, they'd think I was insane. Hmm, this could be a good advantage if I use it the right way. What we have in the future…. The people in the past didn't have.

We stopped at the foot of two large golden doors. I raised an eyebrow. I knew he was pharaoh – but did he have to be so royal-like that even his doors are gold; perhaps his doormat is even gold? I mean, my square blue room is good enough for me. I giggled to myself as Ama-Knet knocked on the smooth surface, making the noise somewhat echo around the place.

"Come in."

Yikes! I recognize that voice anywhere! Immediately my legs began shaking terribly as Ama-Knet opened the doors to reveal a very LARGE room. I gawked. It was the same size as my back yard! I-I've never seen a bedroom that big before! Gosh…. I could almost faint right now. Ama-Knet pushed me inside and I regained my balance, and then stopped as she walked in front of me. I followed behind her meekly; stepping on the ground faintly as if there were needles pointing upright littering the place.

I saw him sitting down in one of his fancy desks with a tray set out in front of him. He had ordered his servants to bring breakfast to him personally today – that was what Ama-Knet told me. She said that the Pharaoh normally ate with the six high priests.

We both bowed down in front of him, I still hadn't stopped quaking yet when I rose up. He looked at me straight in the eye and I froze. Atemu/Yami dismissed Ama-Knet quickly, before beckoning me over. I stiffened once more and I moved over there beside him slowly.

"Scylla, had a good night's sleep yesterday?" He asked me gently.

"Yes, Y-My Pharaoh." I almost said 'Yami' to him. "…. And you?"

He chuckled. "I had a pleasant dream last night, do you wish to find out what I exactly dreamt about?"

I swallowed. "Em… what, may I ask?" I replied. "My Pharaoh." I added in quickly.

"You."

I burned red. Oooh god, please tell me this isn't happening!

Atemu (just call him that now) pushed his tray of empty plates away from him, and then patted the seat beside him. "Sit."

I planted myself stiffly down, before the stool suddenly broke through do the much force I had not noticed I had put into it and it broke apart. I landed on the ground immediately. Atemu stood up almost immediately and offered his slightly tanned hand to me as I lay on the floor blinking back at him in surprise. He didn't look THAT different – okay, he did look darker than usual in skin tone – his amethyst eyes stood out more. He was wearing some sort of robe, with gold bands encircling his waist, both arms, legs and even round every finger. Yami even had the Millennium puzzle around his neck. He also had the same sort of golden hair band thing on and I gawked.

He looked even more like ROYALTY in person. He stared at me at a funny way and lifted me back onto my feet away from the broken seat, before he began inspecting it himself carefully. "Hmmm… there was not any problems with it before….."

He turned back to me as I began splinters off my dress. "Scylla?"

"Hunhhh?" I asked dully, turning my head back to him. "What is wrong?" He asked me.

I blinked once more. "What IS wrong?"

"You seem…. Slightly different."

So…. I guess he COULD somewhat tell the difference? I shrugged. "Nothing's wrong, my Pharaoh." I replied. "I'm always like this…. Oh, how about if I show you something, Y-my Pharaoh?"

"What is that?"

"Wait here," I shoved him back down in his seat (before realising I had SHOVED the PHARAOH OF ALL EGPYT and laughed nervously, dusted his robes and patted his head and he stared as if I had totally gone off my head) and then scuttled back outside. He wanted a different Scylla? Then I'll try and be un-different than normally. I ran back inside the chamber with my things and then I stood in front of him proudly. "Watch me perform magic!" I said cheerfully. I had heard that the ancient Egyptians used powerful shadow magic, I wonder if this was the same kind?

Atemu chuckled. "Scylla, what are you doing?"

I shushed him. "This is a different practical use of magic." I replied as I stepped back. "Prepare to be befuddled, and amazed by the great Charybdis – I mean… Scylla!" I said, immediately correcting my words before he got suspicious. He began eyeing me suspiciously and I began sweating.

He stared at the red piece of waste cloth I presented to him, including to show it to him personally so it didn't look as if something was up my sleeve, and then I put my thumb underneath the hanky so it covered it, and then slowly, brought out a couple of pins and needles. Atemu blinked in his seat. I jammed a needle down onto my thumb. He gasped, horrified. "S-Scylla, stop!" He commanded as he eyed the pin that was protruding out from my thumb.

"I'm okay, just watch." Then I inserted another needle into my thumb, not wincing at all. He gasped once more as I jammed another pin in. And then after all five pins were inserted onto my thumb, I pulled the hanky away.

"Ta-da!"

Atemu stared at my perfect, clean and darkish thumb which had not even one single pin stuck in. "How did you - !" He muttered curiously.

I began giggling feebly, a large grin on my face as I presented him with another object – the rounded head of a carrot to look like a thumb! "Here's how you do it." I told him as I placed it under the hanky with my thumb as if my thumb was the one going under and then began putting some more pins in – it looked as though that was my real thumb and I giggled once more.

Atemu chuckled loudly. "I thought you had really skewered your thumb there. You had me all worried, do not ever do that again, even if it just a trick." He gently pulled my hand over to him, and began rubbing my thumb soothingly as if needles really did penetrate me skin. I sort of froze. His clean hands felt so real as Scylla had said to be an illusion to be fake and I felt slightly relaxed, then popped out from my thoughts when I realised he had began planting short kisses over each of my fingers. Hmm, so this is what it feels to be kissed by the royal Pharaoh. I had the urge to shake my hand out, but then again, felt more relaxed than ever and suddenly another magic trick had popped up in my mind.

"I'll show you another trick, my Pharaoh, if you would like." I asked him timidly.

"…. Alright, as long as it does not involve swords this time."

"I won't." I grinned once more after he released my hand and then caught sight of a piece of papyrus at the side, and took it carefully. "Do you need this?" I asked him.

He shook his head.

"Okay – let more magic tricks, begin!" And then I rolled the piece of papyrus into a cylinder, and then suddenly, began to make funny noises and then I slammed the cylinder down onto the desk in front of him, and began circling my finger around it as though I was powering it up with some sort of energy. Then I stopped my finger in front of the cylinder, and drew it forward towards him and the cylinder followed my finger up to the edge of the desk. Atemu stared at it, then at me.

"I don't hold any magic power – or psychic telekinetic power, but I do hold one." I told him, noticing his puzzled look.

"What is that?" He asked, smiling a little.

"The power of…… wind!" And then I blew the straw, without my finger and it flopped off the desk and bounced on the floor.

Atemu laughed out loud in his seat. Hmm, so this is also how it feels like to be complimented by the royal Pharaoh.

o

Oh well, our 'prefect' morning didn't last for long. This tall bloke came in, somehow reminding me of Seto Kaiba because for his dark blue eyes and tall figure and called Atemu that some sort of meeting about important business was not commencing until the Pharaoh's presence in the room was there. Then the tall guy wearing a blue headdress and white robes carrying Marik's Millennium Rod (A/N is that he wears? I'm sorry, I'm not precisely sure) stared at me straight in the eye and I froze up all over as he glared. By the looks of it… he WAS Kaiba! I could've almost screamed out loud, but then again, I'm supposedly to be Scylla's reincarnation. I wondered whether this new Seto would be slightly different that the one in the future, after all, Scylla is WAY different than me in a lot of things.

"Stop staring and get back to work, slave!" He bellowed and then he dismissed me quickly with the wave of his palm as if I was just nothing but an obstacle in his way. Feeling as though Kaiba had probably been conceited during his whole entire existence on earth, I grabbed Atemu's tray and left the room quickly and reluctantly. I'd rather stay in there than outside in the hot blazing sun (Er-hem, sorry about that, Seto-fans! Hope you can forgive me).

But just before I left Atemu's room; he quickly opened the door ajar slightly and squeezed out beside me.

"Er…. What are you doing out here? Don't you have big business to matter to?" I mumbled, but Atemu silenced me, and pulled me up to him, arm around my waist, before placing a huge smacker on my lips that lasted for several seconds before he pulled apart. I blinked and soon enough, my legs were reduced to jelly.

"Yes. But I'll see you this evening." He smirked.

All I could do was smile cheesily and wave back as he disappeared behind the gold doors.

Ama-Knet returned back to the maid's quarters where I was currently to retrieve the locket (I stuffed it back into my dress slot, which seems to be some kind of ancient pocket). She told me to come with her because we had to prepare for the meal at noon.

I almost screamed out loud again when I saw the size of the kitchen filled with baskets of food, including vegetables such as onions, garlic, leeks, beans, lentils, peas, radishes, cabbage, cucumbers and lettuce. Dates, figs, pomegranates, melons and grapes were also presented. And then something funny wafted into my nose. The smell of fresh fish, raw meats and poultry arrived and I once again began to feel nervous when Ama-Knet led me into a room further into the huge kitchen past the huge crowds of maids and other servants.

"Hey, Ama-Knet? Can I wash the dishes instead?"

---

Credits to the magicians who performed the magic tricks. I'm not sure if one of them was David Copperfield, but it was a man dressed in black with a black mask that looked like a fencing mask. The other trick about the moving straw – well I kind of got that in this funny series about psychic power!

Hmm, hope this chapter didn't seem too unrealistic, and quite dolly, after all, the information I had gathered about the past with the six priests aren't exactly great…

Review Responses:

Annette Chase: Thank you for reviewing!

Severia Ashling: Ah, I've been to your story already, it's superb, keep up the great work. I think I'm actually becoming restless with writing Cosmo Girl that I can just run up to a tree and strip it thoroughly empty of bark and fungi. No worries – I'm almost finished!

Aiko: In my profile I'd been blabbing away how to DEAL with Writer's Block and here I'm actually going: "ARRRGGHHHH HOW IS THIS STORY GONNA END? I WISH SOME KIND OF APPARATION WILL POP OUT AND JUST HELP ME! And then this golden light beams down on me and I can see my answer (angelic music plays in the background) and then I throw my arms out to welcome it – HALLELUJAH!

Red Butterfly: Thank you for the compliment (can't help but turn red and giggle feebly)! Really glad you enjoy da story so far!

Limabeansaresoyummy: Again, thank you! Charybdis' personality seems to be too weird to be true, lol.

Lovely Red Rose: Aye, I get all funny when I read other fanfics with YamixOC, but I don't mind their characters. In fact, I actually go like: She's much more better than Charybdis. I don't get exactly jealous of other people – okay, sometimes I do, but everyone's different, and if people want to write better stories, the best to do is to read more books and get more practice…. I suppose! I haven't been in that situation before, to be honest. I see too many chick flicks and break ups that I can visualize what will happen! LOL

I'm Your Worst Nightmare: Wow, we actually do have a lot in common! Hmm, it wouldn't exactly a really weird assumption to say we are long lost sisters. I've got long lost cousins and uncles who I don't even know about – really. My mum just brought up the subject one day, and I was like: Who's he? Do I know him?

Stranger Than Emily: Lol, homework still continues our young life, and probably we do over one hundred hours of homework each year. Sighs, my only internet time is one hour a day while my sister hogs up the computer for the whole day! It's her computer addiction – it gets waaay put of hand!

Gardevoir-Mages: Wow, in my school, we don't get to do Greek mythology and Egyptian mythology in my year. We're doing things like World War and history of Scotland railway tracks. BORING!

Scarlett and Scar: Charybdis' temper is actually quite controllable – unless you read chapter… 24, she took out her anger on her pillow – you don't see many people doing that everyday!


	30. Illusion Altered, Love is Faltered

Hi ppl! Here is another chapter, I hope you enjoy it so far. I'm just worried whether 'faltered' is a word or not... but you get what I mean, don't you?

**Review Responses:** (I'm beginning to enjoy doing this in every chapter lol)

**Severia Ashling:** Ooh, I'm so sorry for not enclosing more of the reply on my last chapter, gomen! Well, I don't have AOL or AIM, but I do have msn, I can give you my email address if you like?

**Faith:** Yup, I did know Seto helped Kisara (girl connected with Blue Eyes White Dragon, right?) back in the past, but the information I know about Atemu and Seto/Seth (what's the difference?)were cousins and about the six high priests aren't so great, so I'm doing my best on this 'sort of trilogy' of chapters in Ancient Egypt.

**Aiko:** Well, just to let you know, I've actually finished the whole story already, so, as I had said before somewhere, I AM ONE STEP AHEAD! Hahahahahaha - it's not exactly funny, actually. Everyone has their own pace and time. The minimum time I take to write a chapter up is actually about one hour or so, and I've got... (counts), 30 chapters right now - this story must've used up more than a day to write altogether - lol.

**Laura:** Check this chapter and find out! Anyways thank you for reviewing, as the main quote of says: Unleash your imagination and free your soul' - it's actually pretty catchy, and true, of course! Oh yeah, I also posted up several quotes on my profile just for a sort of 'confidence boost up' for anyone who'd care to read.

**Scarlett and Scar:** This is a story, right? So, try and find a carrot in less than 10.2 seconds and find out - lol. As for the magic part - I was watching this show called 'Max Magic', and the magician was in a pet shop, where he wrote the word 'GOLDFISH' one orange card, then he rolled it up and put it to his mouth, where a goldfish popped out and fell into the glass of water below. Cool, huh? I never found out how he did it though.

**Stranger than Emily:** Hmm, writing short chapters tend to be a favourite hobby of mine. Hope this one isn't too short. Hmm, and Charybdis freaking out when she entered the kitchen - well, the fact is, I never thought about why she did that. Maybe it was the healthy food? Or perhaps becauseshe was so hungry?

**L.D. Kaket:** Flashbacks - Ithink I might include one in my next chapter... Lol, sometimes I get that feeling when I'm suddenly talking with my friend and then my brain goes out with thing to get the communicationgoing, it's depressing, really.

**GardevoirMages:** Thank you for reviewing, hope you find this chapter rather enjoyable.

**Chapter 30**

**Illusion Altered, Love is Faltered**

Washing the dishes weren't so bad. It was just a little bit gruesome since there were no rubber gloves available and soap wasn't the most effective (was it even soap?) so it took more time to try and get dried pieces of food off. I stared around the kitchen to the other people inside who were preparing food and drink for the upcoming meal. I stared off at the baskets of leftovers and my stomach growled uncontrollably.

Ama-Knet had already left again to complete her duties. By this time I should've known she wouldn't be here for me all the time. I hardly knew my way around here, and it didn't seem as though anyone else in this unknown world knew me. I had the urge to go home. I really wanted to see Yugi, Joey, Tea, Ryou, Duke and Tristan again. I wanted to see mum, dad and Callista. I even wanted to see Kaiba, Marik, even Bakura and Mokie – at least people who spoke to me was here. I felt hugely unwelcome here at this unknown world.

Thus I sniffed and wiped my tears away with the non-wet parts of my arms and sniffled, before suddenly hearing footsteps coming closer. I turned my head, to see a young girl tiptoeing into the kitchen towards me. "Who-"

She held her index finger to her lips and then lifted up the lid of a huge pot standing beside me. "Don't tell anyone I'm here, Scylla." She said quietly, before winking at me and slipping inside the pot, replacing the lid over her head. I shrugged. Guess someone else knew who I was too.

Then suddenly another man stepped in a few minutes later, with long brown hair and he glanced over at me. "Scylla, have you seen Mana?"

I stared at him. He….. looked familiar… really familiar, extremely familiar…. I know! He's the Dark Magician! I froze in my spot and then I blinked, then slowly, averted my eyes to the pot but then brought them back to focus on the man. I shook my head slowly in reply. The man shrugged and then exited the room. A couple of minutes later, the girl inside the tub clambered back out, breathing a sigh of relief. "Whoo, that was close, thank you Scylla!"

"Urh…. No problem." I smiled sweetly at the cute girl with shoulder length black hair and round, energetic orbs.

"What are you doing, Scylla?" She asked me as she hopped over.

"Washing the dishes…" I mumbled, glancing over at her once more, I could use my small bit of common sense to know that this girl was called 'Mana'. She also reminded me of someone…..

The Dark Magician Girl!

My hear almost detached its arteries off and leapt out of my body, then begin running down the hallway to reality – wherever that was.

But how?

The Dark Magician, and the Dark Magician Girl!

I don't understand……

The girl smiled. "That's boring! How about if I take you somewhere to have a little fun for a while? You always seem gloomy nowadays."

"I do?" I blinked blankly. "But I can't, if I go away from my chores, I'll get punished."

"No you will not, with me you won't. I will ensure your safety until then, Mahaado will cover you up, besides Atemu does not matter anyway!"

I cringed. "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course I am!" She lifted me up from the ground and dusted my clothing. I was beginning to like this girl – at least she has some decent spirit inside her and gives me one darn decent bit of respect unlike the High Priest Seth (Seto Kaiba) who had sneered at me when I walked past carrying a pail of water to the kitchen and spilt it over his sandals.

o

"Wow, pretty flowers, who arranged them?" I asked curiously as I saw how well the potted plants littering the corridors look so perfect and tidy.

Mana giggled. "Why of course, it was you, Scylla, you always had a thing for flower arrangement."

I just remembered the time when I almost cut the flower Yami gave me in half before Scylla taught me how to arrange them properly.

Mana had given me a tour of the palace, after I covered up my unknown knowledge about this place by saying how I forgot where each room was and stuff. Mana was happy to give me a tour anyway; she knew Mahaado was looking for her but she told me she didn't care at the moment and wanted to skip magic lessons for a day. Hmm, she also sort of reminded me of myself when I ran away from piano lessons I took when I was younger, and now I can't bloody remember the D-Minor scale and I can't play an octave either. I don't exactly regret it, but when I see people playing the piano, I can't help but get the feeling that I've let myself down.

I thought for a while, watching Mana's back as I followed her from behind towards corridors and other rooms which were restricted to us both and sighed. I stopped her in her tracks when she was about to show me the Grand Hall. "Listen, Mana?"

"Yes Scylla?"

"I… think it's best if you return yourself to Mahaado, you'd better not miss your practice… or you'll end up regretting it – or at least you'd learn something new. I'll be on my own, besides, the Pharaoh wants me to go back to his chambers… and er…. Clean up for a bit." I lied.

"Well," Mana bit her lip and pouted. "Alright, bye Scylla. I'll see you later." Mana waved at me and made her way past the Grand hall to some unknown place as I retreated back to the kitchen.

I passed an open door at the corridor, where suddenly, voices broke our and I paused, then tiptoed over to the slight ajar door and I peeped through, where this pretty girl stood in front of three human-length mirrors at the corners watching herself dressed in a beautiful white gown. Around her were bustling maids with pins and needles and all sorts of things that I pondered whether this was the tailor room.

"Mi'lady, you ought to get changed out from your wedding gown so I can measure the appropriate length for you." A maid said from inside.

Even more curious and apprehensive, I stuck my head out a little and looked around the whole, but my attention was still at the girl who looked like my age in the middle. She had extra long, jet-black hair, dark blue eyes, and a large mouth. I raised an eyebrow at her as she giggled and twirled around, admiring her reflection.

The pretty girl sighed. "Very well then, maybe I should try a different gown on, after all, our wedding is soon, is it not?"

"Aye mi'lady, in two weeks time."

"I cannot believe that I am marrying the Pharaoh, of all Egypt! Mother always said that I had the potential to marry someone in such hierarchy someday!" And then the girl began 'dancing' around again and I sweat dropped a little.

Such a brat…. I wondered how old she actually was. Then it hit me (after five minutes or so) that she had said that she was getting married to the Pharaoh. My lower lip trembled and grief welled inside me.

Her? Marry Atemu? I felt sickened and I eyed her up, then at myself. What's she got that I don't? I've got the looks (I think), I got the attitude, I'm not a spoiled brat like her, and my personality is great! What's so great about her!

Huffing, I left the door with my nose up high and I snorted with disgust. Then I made my way back to my usual destination. But then the corridor seemed to stretch longer and longer as I tried to make my way back. The sun gleamed even brighter than usual, and then I felt as though a part of me had flown away it was unexplainable.

The next thing I knew, I was standing at the edge of the tower I'd seen Scylla standing on in my vision. She must've fast-forwarded time or something, because the sun seemed to nearly have disappeared below the horizon. The sky was darkening, and red, with a few yellow touches from the sun's light.

"Aw man, this is getting freaky." I said to myself quietly. "I wanna get outta here! Scylla?" I yelled to the sky. "Are you there? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I WANNA GO BACK!"

No reply except from the shrill call of some unknown bird hovering around me in the sky and the faint cries of children from a building which is probably an ancient school a distance away.

I sniffed. How am I going to get back? Scylla is going to choose the time when she will bring me back, and how on earth should I know that? How can I even trust her that she will bring me back?

"SCYLLA!" A loud voice broke through the quiet area and I leapt in shock as I swerved my head over.

Atemu was running over to me, and I knew why – my feet had slipped unconsciously and I realised that history was repeating itself in a different way. Atemu was going to be the cause of my 'so-called' death, I however, was not Scylla and now I am going to die, and I am INNOCENT! Screaming as I fell down, a part of me actually wondered if I WOULD actually die.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE! HEEEEEELP ME!" I screamed hysterically as I fell.

"Scylla!" I managed to move my head again to see Atemu jumping off the tower and falling down towards me.

"ARE YOU CRAZY YOU STUPID PHARAOOOOOOOH!" My pathetic voice died down, as I seemed to have been plummeting down for quite some time.

I tried desperately to catch hold of any rocks that might've jutted out from the walls but I found none and only found crumbles and dust of tiny fragments. I saw a windowsill and I made a grab for it but missed and I cursed. I looked back at Atemu and desperately tried to grab his outstretched hand.

"Atemu!" I shrieked helplessly when our hands were only inches away, yet we were separated quite a distance and tears began leaking out from my eyes no matter how hard I tried to hold them in.

"Scylla!"

Another pang of guilt and sadness welled up inside me and with an extremely urgent heave, I managed to hit my legs against something that fractionated my fall for temporary and I managed to catch his outstretched hand and I stopped halfway – like a marionette flopping uncontrollably on a string, or at least a flimsy rag-doll in its owners hands. I made an attempt and clambered up to Atemu who had seemed to catch hold of the windowsill that I just missed narrowly.

"Don't worry, you are safe." Atemu told me reassuringly.

I inhaled and exhaled as if my life depended on it, and then I howled louder, harder and I tried to latch myself onto his robe and bury my head into it.

o

The High Priests rescued us sooner or later; Atemu went back to his room and called for a specialist from the royal apothecaries to see me, who was red in the face due to the horrible thing that had just happened to me. Then he dismissed everyone single person in the room except from himself and me so we were alone. I thought that he might use this time so we get to be alone, but no, he had used it for shouting at me for a long time that my ears had gone promptly deaf for only temporary. He was shouting about how stupid I had been to stand there, and asked why I was standing there in the first place, and that if he hadn't been 'cruising' around the palace looking for me he'd probably lose me for good….

"Scylla, I don't want to lose you!" He had shouted at me furiously, eyes narrowed so tightly that they had turned to small slits and I had shrank back in my seat in the corner.

"I'm…. sorry." I mumbled, looking at the floor.

Humph, it wasn't my fault I was standing there in the first place anyway…..

And then he held me against him, and ran his hands through my hair and I felt awful. I'd just realised that during the time when Scylla was standing there, Atemu had been around the palace, but because I had been thinking for about ten minutes, he'd had the time to arrive at the scene and save me before I 'died', did that mean that Scylla…. Could have lived too if she had waited for a couple of more minutes?

Past…. Present… future… argh! It's just giving me a headache!

Then I pulled him back roughly, glaring at him again. "You're getting married, why didn't you tell me!" I screamed loudly.

He looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry, Scylla." Then he pulled me into his lap and rested his head on my shoulder. I felt uncomfortable and felt like shoving him away, making him falling to floor, but I didn't, and remained there.

"What…. Are we going to do now?" I murmured, my hand rose up unconsciously and I began stroking his cheek softly. His skin felt so cool, and smooth as I stroked his cheek. Could this really be just an illusion? But…. I don't want this to be an illusion!

"Scylla…. I have already made you one of my personal maids…. How…. About… we get married?" He took my hand gently in his own and rubbed my palm, then kissed the back and I shivered.

I froze and my heart leapt out. "M-M-M-M-M-M-MARRY?"

Immediately bells in a church echoed their music in my ears loudly, and a vision of Atemu/Yami wearing a tuxedo holding my hand in the later in the church played in my mind and I sort of half smiled. Then I began laughing nervously, and my brain began malfunctioning (sp?).

"Kidding... right, you" I said, then shook my head to snap myself out and rephrased it into another sentence. "Y-Y-You're kidding… right?" I croaked.

"Y-Y-You're kidding… right?"

"No I am not, 'kidding'." He replied teasingly, flicking my hair.

I shrank back. "MARRY?" I said, emphasising my shock in the word but stretching the syllables. "Ma-rry….. marrrrry….. maaaaa-rry." I repeated slowly, and thoughtfully.

I thought for a while. "I… can't."

His face fell. "And why is that?"

"Because…. I'm not the one you like."

"What do you mean?" He laughed.

_My name…. is Charybdis….Not Scylla._ I thought. I fingered the locket that was still in my pocket safely and securely and brought it out. Then I moved my eyes at Atemu who still had his arms around me tightly. "I'm sorry that I called you stupid, and I'm sorry that I deceived you." I mumbled.

He chuckled, "Don't be silly, Scylla, you are marrying me, no matter what."

"YOU CANNOT AND DEFINETELY WILL NOT MARRY ME! DO YOU KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO? PEOPLE WILL BE WHISPERING RUMOURS HOW A PHARAOH DITCHED SOME KIND OF PRETTY PRINCESS BRAT FOR A STUPID, LOWLY SERVANT GIRL WHO NO-ONE KNOWS, YOU ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT MARRY ME!"

He blinked. He still didn't understand… right?

"I DO NOT WANT YOU TO HAVE TWO WIVES! IF YOU LOVE ME THEN DON'T EVEN BOTHER TO MARRY ME, I'D RATHER MARRY SOME COMMONER THAN SEE YOU MARRYING CONCUBINES!"

Hmm, maybe I should also rephrase that… okay… here goes…

"I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU WITH MORE THAN ONE WOMAN!"

True, but it didn't sound too right yet.

"I NEED TO MAKE SURE YOU LOVE ME, AND ONLY ME!"

Okay that also went funny…

"I WANT YOU ONLY FOR MYSELF!"

Why didn't that sound right either?

"YOU ARE MINE NO MATTER WHAT, NO-ONE OTHER WOMAN CAN TAKE YOU AWAY FROM ME! DO YOU HEAR ME! NO-ONE!NO-ONE CAN TAKEYOU AWAY FROM ME!" I hissed at him dangerously.

What the difference than that sentence with the one before?

I decided to add something else on.

"IF THEY WANT YOU, THEY'LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH MEEEEE!"

So, anyways, more memories began flooding back inside me. I was beginning to feel as though without Yami in my life, I'd be so alone, cold and distant, so I returned the hug reluctantly. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't help myself from loving Yami, but I'm already too late. I pasted my face against his chest and rubbed my cheek against him, still sniffling hard and hiccupping uncontrollably.

Atemu seemed to have been probably deafened due to my screaming and bellowing in his ears and I shrugged inwardly, it was much better if he hadn't heard a singl word I just said. Then I stole one more glance at the locket, and I fingered the rims of it. I glanced back at Atemu, and then I opened it gingerly.

"This locket you gave me….." I began slowly. The soft glow it emitted attracted my attention and my eyes were peeled over it.

I regretted it immediately as I opened it. The vision with Atemu was slowly fading away into his weird time warp thing, and I found myself trapped in this dark atmosphere. Chanting came back up and filled my ears, and then…

POOF!

I was back in my soul room, lying on my bed, where pictures of Yami were carelessly sellotaped together and pinned up with pieces of chewed gum. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my throbbing head. Was everything that I had just experienced, WAS just an illusion? Feeling still unhappy, I got out from bed and teetered over to Scylla's room. I pushed the door open.

"Scylla? Are you in there?"

No reply. I opened the door to its full extent and gasped.

It wasn't the soul room, but a large bridge filled with misty, wispy like smoke littered around the foot of the bridge. The bridge seemed to have stopped somewhere at the horizon which I couldn't see, and I walked over curiously. It was dark, and foggy everywhere that it screamed out to me; Bad road, bad road! There was a large block of stone ahead, and then I looked at the writing that were painted on.

**The Twilight Junction**


	31. One Wretched Soul

**Chapter 31**

**One Wretched Soul**

I gasped. "This… is the Twilight Junction?" I breathed, as I stared at the bridge in awe, and noticed a familiar figure standing on it a distance away. I squinted my eyes to get a better look, and gasped again.

"Charybdis!" She shouted cheerfully.

I blinked. "Scylla? What are you doing there? Get back here right now!" I demanded furiously.

She shook her head faintly. "I want to thank you, Charybdis."

"Uh... Why?"

"Because of your help to make me look at things with hope in the world, and that Atemu did love me in the past. During your illusion, you were taking a walk in my shoes, and now I realise that I had not exactly missed anything. Even if you did change my 'history', it is unaltered in the future. Thank you for making me realise my mistakes, and let me move on. Do not worry, I am aware that Yami loves you too, and I won't play a role in your relationship and deteriorate it. He is waiting for you, Charybdis, and I understand how you feel without him in your life. I am now going to the Twilight Junction to reincarnate, after I drink the Blind Woman's soup, my memory will be erased."

I blinked again. "Blind woman's soup?" I muttered questioningly under my breath. Somehow I had the feeling that I was definitely living a dream right now. B-ButScylla's my yami,she can't leave me now! What am I going to do? A small stall beside Scylla appeared in the fog, and an old lady blindly handed her a large bowl of some strange liquor with Scylla's help. She picked it up gingerly in her hands and stared at it softly, and then turned to me.

"Thank you, Charybdis! When you leave the soul room, I want you to promise me this, go back with Yami, you two were destined to be together… in every generation."

"But – " I blinked. I… suppose Scylla moving on will be the best thing for her…… but still…. EVERY generation? Me... and Yami? Hmm, I scratched my chin, should I be feeling as if I would at least want a change of boyfriend in the next generation, or should I be pleased that Yami would be by my side for eternity?

"Promise me, please?"

"… Okay…." I said softly.

"I do not need to speak to Yami, I'm sure at least a small bit of his heart will remember me, but I do not mind. I am looking forward to a new, fresh start."

"I'm glad…. Scylla….." I replied, with a small smile on my lips. "Take care…. Wherever you're going….. be careful."

She nodded, sniffled a little and wiped something at her cheek.

"Farewell Charybdis. For forever. It was pleasure to meet you, my hikari."

And then she raised the soup to her lips, and drank it.

10 days later……

Huh.

So this is how it feels days after a break-up.

Well this stinks. All of it. I hate break-ups. They're the key to misery, and I don't have the courage to lift my head up high and say to the sky: "I can always try again!"

Why?

Because I've already lost my possibility. I was the one who initiated our break-up. It was my fault. Yami's probably in his soul room already rejoicing or maybe even wondering the same things as I am right now, well, who can blame him? I'm having one of my moments again.

I feel like such a loser, like a fool in the whole entire world of love…………

I HATE LOVE! AND EVERYONE WHO ARE IN LOVE! CURSE YOU ALL! CURSE YOUUUUU!

I sniffed, and wiped some of my tears away as I stared hard at the photograph of us both in my hands. We took that picture the day we went to that stupid restaurant. To be honest, I rather enjoyed myself that day; it was fun, relaxing, and even romantic.

Oh well.

I'll never get that opportunity to eat 'love meals', share ice cream, hug and kiss any other male apart form dad in my whole life. Urgh….. Now Scylla's gone too, right when I need her the most to talk to. Honestly, when is the person you have to talk to ever there? When I didn't have much to talk, she was there, but now I have LOTS to talk and now she's gone, probably reborn as a little boy or something.

I stared at the almost wilted flowers that were in that vase on my desk. The flowers Yami gave me. Hesitantly I grabbed one of the flowers out, and began picking/stabbing out the petals.

He loves me….. He loves me not…. He loves me….. He loves me not….He loves me…. He loves me not…

HE DOESN'T LOVE ME ANYMORE!

GRRRR! Huffing, I grabbed another flower out after chucking the petal-less flower into the bin and began attacking the petals roughly.

He loves me not…. He loves me… He loves me not…. He loves me… He loves me not…. He loves me… He loves me not…. He loves me… He loves me not….

ARGH! THE SAME RESULT!

I threw the flower onto the floor, cursing and seething. I still want another chance!

He loves me….. He loves me not…. He loves me….. He loves me not….He loves me…. He loves me not…He loves me!

HURRAY! I picked the last remaining petal away, and cheered, then suddenly, something that popped out from under my fingers which was holding the flower's head, and the last petal flopped out. I sulked again.

HE LOVES ME NOT!

WAAAAH! WAAAHHHHHH! WAAAAAHHHHHH!

The spot light is shining at me again. I'm at the corner of my room, in the dark, wearing my pink bunny pyjamas looking at the photograph, then at my window where I hadn't been bothered to draw the curtains so the moon just shines the light through onto me.

The perfect setting for the sort of 'blues' theme.

I wondered how Joey and Mai's relationship was at the moment. What about Tea and Yugi? What about myself?

Then suddenly the ring tone song of 'All by myself' echoed in my quiet room and I cursed. It's eight at night, who could calling me at this hour? I picked up my mobile, and pressed the green button.

"Hello, you have reached the next-in-death-list-number-one, I'm sorry the person you are trying to contact, is not available at the moment, please leave a message after the tone…….." I said glumly down the reciever. Then I paused, and I gulped, and then croaked like a frog and began crying, loudly, hysterically, that I didn't give a bloody damn if the caller happened to be Tea or someone who afterwards, I'd never let it down.

"….. Charybdis, is that you?"

I froze. "Y-Y-Yugi?"

The next day…..

We were both facing each other in our rather large, spacey side table in the café, listening for the loud coffee machine in the counter to stop whirring the brown contents and finally quieten down. I looked at the table, with my hands tightly clasped together on my lap and my brain buzzing with a large amount of things that I wanted to say to Yami. He stared at me intently, as I tried my best to avoid eye contact with him for a short while until one of us spoke up first.

Apparently none of us did.

Yami's hand was on the back of his seat, as his body was facing the side, yet his head turned to me. He didn't speak to me, and I could feel his eyes all over me and I wanted to get away from here as far as possible yet some nagging thought wanted me to stay and sort things out.

Why did I come here again?

Oh yes, Scylla had told me that I should try and go back with Yami before she drank the soup and exited the Twilight Junction. Already, inside of me I was nervous, and terrified. I ignited our break-up first, and now I'm coming up to him, and asking if we 'could start all over again', though I do think that its not possible, even after the way I acted, and pointed out.

I had indeed become one wretched soul over the past days. I had stayed up nights with insomnia, poured buckets of tears into the drain after looking at the picture I took with Yami, and even forgetting to dress up properly. One time, when I went with Ryou and Joey to some kind of new arcade opening, and I realised that I had worn my undergarments the wrong way, put lip gloss on my eyelids, eyeliner on my lips, combed my teeth and even brushed my hair with toothpaste…..

I gulped as soon as the coffee machine stopped whirring noisily, and left the café in quietness. I sighed, took some deep breaths and looked at him. It was Yugi who had asked me to talk with Yami and spend time with him for a day because he seemed so 'unhappy' lately about our relationship. He thought the best person to sort this out was I – he almost got quite the shock when I began crying down the receiver and I can't live it down.

His mouth moved.

And mine.

"I…." We both said in unison.

Then I looked back down.

"You first, Charybdis." He said calmly.

I thought about what I was going to say, perhaps I should start things off by saying 'I've been doing some souls searching'? He tuned his body to face me.

"Yami….. I'd been doing some soul-searching over the past few days."

He blinked and looked up at me, slightly surprised.

"You made me feel…. So special during our time together. I want to thank you for, making me feel loved. I'm sorry I had slapped you back there, I was too… Confused at that moment. Someone made me realise that I'd… done a big mistake."

_You bet it is, girl. It's not just a BIG mistake but a HUMUNGOUS mistake. _

I hate my conscience. It always gets the better of me!

I cringed. Oh god, why am I saying this? I felt so awkward; I wanted the ground to swallow me up whole at this very moment.

I took another deep breath. "You made me feel as though that it's not too late for me to change, did you know that I was just this loud, annoying girl who just dazed around in the world? Until you entered my life, I had changed. I wanted to change myself. I didn't like the way I was. But you said that you didn't mind, and you liked my old self-better, but inside me this nagging thought tells me that without you here for me, I… I really don't know how to put up with the world."

I opened my mouth again. "I… I really don't know what to do right now, without you… I'm so… afraid…. And alone….." I finished weakly, letting my voice trail down into a silence pathetically before I began sobbing again. "Here, read this…. It'll probably make things easier for you…"

He blinked at the scrawny A4 sized piece of paper which was folded messily and took it out from my hands and opened it. Oh my god, I stared at the letter. What if he thinks it's irrelevant and totally absurd? I can even remember what I had written in that letter!

_Dear Yami,_

_This was the longest letter I have ever written before in my history of letter writing. Can you believe that I had to draw out a mind map of notes of events that had happened for the past year to piece together all the stuff I want to say to you, but I didn't get the chance to do so? Anyway, unfortunately that note doesn't exist anymore since I trod on it deliberately and ripped it up into a million pieces. _

_I want to thank you first, for giving me the best times I've ever had. I won't forget the time we were at the carnival with Joey and Mai, and the Bonfire Night etc. Another thing is that, I never really got the chance to tell you my feelings, my true feelings for you. Maybe when I said 'I love you' had probably explained everything….. but I had asked myself; "Does those words even mean anything to you, to myself?" I think you'd probably understand, that we had some sort of connection together, I suppose. I feel bad that we weren't been able to deepen our relationship furthermore. _

_Over the past few weeks, I've been asking myself these two questions:  
1) How did you feel about me?  
2) How did I feel about you?_

_Anyway, I also hate you. Why? Well, here are my answers; I hate you because_:

_1) Each time you look or speak to me my legs and heart turns to jelly. I can never speak to you properly without swallowing or starting to sweat like a dog in a desert. It's so irritating – in a way that makes me really feel hopeless._

_2) You're the first guy who I actually had more of a boy-girl relationship, and not the best friend kind. I feel so bad about it, since I haven't experienced these problems before and I don't know how to handle this 'extreme' situation._

_3) Argh! You never seem to know when I try to flirt with you – although it fails and I feel embarrassed I even done it! _

_4) I hate it when you feel angry or sad; it makes me want to be sad and angry too!_

_5) Finally, you've given me the best times any girl could ever dream of, I don't want really want to leave our relationship hanging off!_

_I can't really believe that I had written all these reasons why I hate you – because they all add up to one fact: I love you. I love you so much I want to tear my hair out. I love you so much I want to bang my head off walls. I love you so much I want to throw my dollies out from the window and yell to the world 'WHAT HAS CUPID BESTOWED UPON ME?' I love you so much I'm desperate for an answer, but I suppose I won't get one. _

_Not after the way I acted. _

_So, what do think then? Do you hate me as much as I love you? Do you feel the same as I do? _

_Thank you for showing me the true definitions of 'love'. I haven't noticed how much I've grown up from an immature little girl to a fully-grown 'woman', and the meaning Callista gave me of love when I asked her how I felt towards you, was more than a 'warm, happy' feeling._

_And no matter how far away I am, I won't forget you, or everyone else whom I've made friends with. You will always be on my mind and heart, like a key to a locket, without the key, you can never open the locket. The heart can unlock many undiscovered questions within the mind, which are waiting to be answered. _

_Get what I mean?_

_Take care. _

_Love From Charybdis _

_XXXXXXX _

I knew I shouldn't had written about '5 Things I hate about You' damn it!

I peeped at him, my face burning red with embarrassment. Yami's eyes softened after he skimmed the whole contents of the letter and he then, slowly, moved his hand from his side of the table, over to my hand that had wandered over to the table of my side. Then, he clasped his hand over mine slowly, and I blinked. Yami rubbed my hand gently and then lifted it up to his lips.

His mouth opened slightly.

_Yes… yes… say it…_

His teeth were visible.

_Go on…._

His mouth was wide open.

_Almost there!_

"Let's start over again."

I looked up and blinked surprisingly.

He was giving me a chance….

a….a…..a….

a……..

Chance.

A chance to start things all over again.

As if nothing had ever happened.

But is it possible?

After all the things I had done, and said.

_Was _it possible?

_A chance…._

I felt as though I had just committed a crime of some sort.

But then, after a few minutes of silence as Yami watched me closely for my expression to change; I sort of froze there.

_A chance. _

And then I broke my small frown to a slight, open-mouthed smile. "Why don't we get married?"

-

Hiya ppl! Just to let you know, I am thinking of making a sequel to Cosmopolitan Girl, and I'm going to put a new OC (another girl) up who is going to be the next main character, so please decide your pairings at the moment please! Everyone gets one vote!

Nomination Number 1: OC x Bakura

Nomination Number 2: OC x Marik

Nomination Number 3: OC x Yami (Should I leave Charybdis out in the next story, lol?)

Nomination Number 4: OC x Ryou

Oh yes, another note, the next story will not be in first person's point of view, but from third person.


	32. The Valentine's Special

Ahem, please note this is **only** three quarters of this chapter, the last part will be in Chapter 33!

**Chapter 32**

**The Valentines Special**

**(although it may be a little bit late!)**

God, it's been like, already one year and the way I see it, right at the start of the year in Domino was when I was the most immature and annoying self from that time. Most of the places and towns/schools etc I've been and lived for a year or more have been the most dull and boring but ever since I came across o' little town of Domino I just get the feeling that I have really experienced more of life. From the encounter with Bakura, the stupid accident with Tristan's bike, the other stupid plan of exorcism, double dates, flirting, and confessions and even up to Seto Kaiba to Marik Ishtar, most of the embarrassing parts to my 'life story' had redeemed me into a more powerful, stronger and confident half of me to stretch out from my usual puny self.

And no, unfortunately Yami and I did not get married.

So, the most important things in this part are; how am I doing and how is society around me doing?

Well, let me top things off, with the topics listed in order:

School/Education (I know, the thing I'd rather write last about is the first unfortunately)

Health

Friends

Family

Love Life/Soul-mate/Mr Right/Boyfriend

Well, let's get it started!

**School:**

Got good grades in the Mother and father project. Done several more practice tests during that year for our real exams and actually done pretty well, I have to admit. Can you actually believe that I started studying from a couple of months before the exams for up to several hours a day? My family told me I was overworking myself sometimes, and sheesh, I was like, well you guys were always shouting at me to study and now you're telling me NOT to study that much?

It just pains you to know, education can be a bore and affect to your brain if you infuse too much at the same time. There was a time when I took a test – everything vanished from my brain and I was left with an almost empty-of-answers sheet of paper. But I didn't get a fail, but an ALMOST fail, thankfully.

But then again: Success is 99 percent failure – and I've had failure written over my face for a long time. (A/N heh, my own quote!)

Therefore – what else is there to write about education? Seeing how lazy I am and how I can't be bothered to take out a book at least- you'd better not be taking after in my steps!

**Health:**

Not too bad, not too good either. My body was weakened without Scylla inhabiting it along with me, but I'd manage to cope well in Physical Education most of the time unfortunately. And sometimes I get a lot of illnesses as well – big HUGE annoyance and another fact in my life, which I have to face up to. However dieting and exercise morally helps me in a way, but I cannot be bothered to also drag myself to take a walk for thirty minutes or pop down at the local gym to work out.

Sitting in front of the TV with huge bags of smokey bacon crisps and chocolate bars seem to be my thing to do. It's actually no wonder I've been staring at my mirror in the wardrobe door in the mornings and nights. Seeing that somehow I needed to tone down a little – probably at my thighs and arms… and around the waist….

Once I had worn a skirt to a date with Yami but I hated it. I mean, at school I have to wear a skirt and I detest that fact even more. Though Yami commented that I looked fine – I just got the feeling that he was being truthful this time – maybe doing only five minutes at the workout cycle does really help….

**Friend Status:**

What can I say? We are still one big group, marching around the streets, checking out shops, talking, eating and blah blah blah, stuff friends do. Marik, Ishizu and Odion are also thinking of moving back to Egypt – well, I wasn't, exactly very close with them, yet I felt as though I could be of more assistance to them, and the time when Marik took me home on the motorbike was quite fun. Yugi and Tea's relationship seems to have gone off the positive end too. So has Joey's and Mai's. Poor Tristan and Duke still fighting over one girl….. Ryou is still looking for his soul mate although he never brings up that term in front of us.

**Family Status:**

Grandma's moved away from the Shrine. Callista had broken up with her boyfriend after a small bit of conflict between the two and came home crying. She leapt into my arms and sobbed her heart out – I finally had the opportunity to become those kinds of persons who people could have a shoulder to cry on. But then again, who'd lent me a shoulder to cry on when I had experienced a break up, eh? (no-one, in fact)

I had done my best to act like a shoulder for her to cry on and had great results. She called her boyfriend a 'jerk' (plus some other nasty names that I will not write here) and claimed that she 'never wanted to see him again because he was cheating on her', and then I gave her a looong lecture about my relationship, and said that there was more sausages in the frying pan (or there's more fish in the sea). Hopefully, Callista had seen the brighter side of the world and she sucked back her tears and smiled at me.

Dad and mum have been working hard too. The clinic is going well, and stuff, yadda yadda yadda. I don't go to the clinic much often anyway. My uncles and aunties are all leading happy lives in their own worlds with their own kids and relatives and stuff. Well, what else can I say about my family?

Sometimes I do wish to rewind the clock and re-do one scene, but what has been done is done. Well, that basically rounds up everything.

**Love Life: **

Here's a topic I would like to cover first:

**Grand Romanticism!**

As you can probably see, I'm not exactly THE most romantic person on earth – of course, since I am a girl, and the most romantic thing I could only teach about are the things I had learnt during the Christmas holidays with Scylla and through other times I had been out on dates with Yami. Hmm, being romantic means a lot of things, like – being romantic is being inattentive, remembering it for your life, gallant, not being serious and idealistic. Romance is really significant. Women have expectations from men. Romance also means the communication between a couple; they can speak to each other as freely as they wish and talk to each other about almost anything.

What do I think was the definition love? Of course I was the naïve fool, and thought apart from crazed teenagers pushed against lockers or empty classrooms kissing each other hungrily, or the old family warm love, bonds between a mother and daughter, or father with son, or just parents and children; I would say communal respect and 'considering the other's emotions' to be more precise.

Love can bring us joy and also bring us danger as well as fear (I should know). Being in love is like a fool trapped in his/her own illusions. Love stories are always similar too – well in this case, it kinda went wonky for me but came out all right at the end. Most unsuccessful relationships bear the very answers to it, and they also leave questions for us, don't you agree?

Flowers also play an important role in grand romanticism. I used to know less than ten species of flowers, but now I all of them. Different flowers mean different things; take a look at some examples:

A **Carnation** means Joy

A **Crocus** means Gladness

A **Daffodil** means Respect

A **Daisy** means Innocence

A **Fern** means Grace

A **Freesia** means Trust

**Heather** means Admiration

**Huckleberry** means Faith

An **Iris** means Promise

There are heaps more, but different colours of flowers also mean something different too. For example:

**Purple** and **gold **are often associated with Royalty, wealth and opulence.

**Green** is associated with nature, ecology and the environment

**Red **associates with love, passion and courage

**White** is innocence, purity and secrecy

**Yellow** is joy, friendship and often jealousy

**Light pink** is grace, joy and gladness

The numbers of stems in bouquets also are important.

**One** stem means Only One

**Two **stems mean A World Of Two People

**Three** means I love You

**Four **means Undying Promise

**Five **means No Regrets

**Six** means Happiness and Satisfaction

**Seven** means Endless Good Wishes

**Eight** means Please Forgive Me

**Nine **means Eternity

**Ten **means Perfection

**Eleven** means One Heart, One Mind

**Twelve** means Heart to Heart

**Thirteen** means Secret Admirer

And can go on and on… and on….up to a thousand!

Well, I think that should probably be enough. I'd better continue on with my own things!

The incident with Scylla seems to have had a big impact on Yami and I. Yami and I have been closer to each other ever since, due to a sort of shared experience; we both understood more of each other and probably have become even more attached (more like me, actually who have been clinging onto him no mater what the circumstances are). Although he never seen Scylla, we seem to understand each other perfectly.

Anyway he was happy that I cared and worried over him – a lot; called me his 'little guardian angel' and other pet names I found outrageous and just so UN-like him to do so (really it was), yet it was hilarious and sweet, but embarrassing at the same time that I couldn't help but kiss his cheek and cringe uncontrollably. I'm happy that Yami is my boyfriend. I can kiss him, cuddle him, hug him, he'll get me what I want, I'll get him anything he wants, he listens to me, we both listen to each other, we respect each other, make decisions together, I can talk to him all day long and we hardly object each other – and about that….

Although the occasional conflict **does** come up between us, we both make up as soon as possible and do things together. Anyway, conflict between a couple is natural, right? Okay, maybe I am still as moany as ever, but I don't pester him that much – I think.

Of course the infrequent green monster called jealousy comes up too – which in this case, it's the angry _Greek _monster called Charybdis with huge ravenous teeth. Sometimes I see girls in my class often coming over to Yami while he's waiting for me secretly. Okay it used to didn't get on my nerves THAT much, but when it comes to almost everyday – I literally went mad and threw the girls over the horizon, orgetting a free tripto the moon. Yami wasn't those kinds who flirted with any girl in spite of the fact that he had a girlfriend anyway (F.Y.I -ME! He's MINE so there! HE'S ALL MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE! Don't you even think of laying a finger on HIM- over-protective Charybdis), so I didn't mind about that.

I actually realised Yami was rather over-protective towards me, and how over-protective I was too (er-hem, great example shown above in previous paragragh). WOW, I feel as though I've known Yami for life – well, if you think about, I am Scylla's reincarnation, and she was with Yami/Atemu back in the past – so… see the connection?

Well, how am I doing right now? I am late for a date as usual. I am still as irresponsible as ever. Running through the streets to the destination where I am supposed to be meeting Yami, however suddenly my stomach growled in protest and I paused. I hadn't had anything to eat since morning and it was already past three o'clock already! Sighing, I hesitated, and then pondered for a moment. I spotted a Seven Eleven shop nearby, then spotted Yami who was standing somewhere in the empty park a distance away seeming to have a problem with pigeons fluttering over to him (such a birdie boy, he is, yet so caring towards nature - and I am swooning again, grr!). I raised an eyebrow. He seemed a little too preoccupied to notice me. I stared at the shop again, and then back at Yami. Hmm, which one to pick? I could go over to Yami and then my stomach will digest itself, or I can snoop into the shop, get something to eat and come back out.

I stepped forward over to Yami's direction, but then suddenly my feet are carrying me off to the direction of the shop. So, should I go in, or not?

Afterwards, I re – emerged from the shop, clutching an extra large jumbo chocolate bar in my hand and a bag of other unhealthy snacks – what can I say? My love for junk food still exists. Anyway I ran over to Yami, waving my hand to him as he caught sight of me.

"YAMI? OVER 'ERE!" I shouted over, still waving my hands until I notice that several large crumbs of chocolate onto the floor around me and I stopped in my tracks.

Hehehe, whoops. Whoa. What was this? The pigeons had flown off Yami (who was covered in several feathers) and were flying towards my feet. I stepped back as they all ganged up on me, staring hungrily at the origins of the chocolatey goodness that had fell on the floor with their intense beady eyes and I sweat dropped. I thought pigeons flew off whenever people came over – well, guess they weren't shy after all... Thus, one thought had entered my mind: "Get rid of those pesky flying pieces of poultry!" But then I just realised how horrible I was thinking about my foolish actions, and instead, thought for a while and then broke a bit of my chocolate off and scattered them on the floor for the fat birds to peck at. I giggled at them and then smiled at Yami, who returned the smile and walked over to join me. We both sat down on the bench near the flock of pigeons and I broke a bit of chocolate for him, then for myself and we scattered more crumbs for them. Hmm, and suddenly our short precious time given away to feed pigeons who eventually fluttered away when some kid ran over deliberately somehow reminded me of a song.. About good times… civilisation and society…. Friends and life… and it goes like this….

_You're everywhere and nowhere, baby  
That's where you're at  
Going down a bumpy hillside  
In your hippy hat  
Flying out across the country  
And getting fat  
Saying everything is groovy  
When your tyres are flat _

And it's hi-ho silver lining  
And away you go now baby  
I see your sun is shining  
But I won't make a fuss  
Though it's obvious

Flies are in your pea soup baby  
They're waving at me  
Anything you want is yours now  
Only nothing is for free  
Lies are gonna get you some day  
Just wait and see  
So open up your beach umbrella  
While you are watching TV

And it's hi-ho silver lining  
And away you go now baby  
I see your sun is shining  
But I won't make a fuss  
Though it's obvious

And it's hi-ho silver lining  
And away you go now baby  
I see your sun is shining  
But I won't make a fuss  
Though it's obvious

And it's hi-ho silver lining  
And away you go now baby  
I see your sun is shining  
But I won't make a fuss  
Though it's obvious……


End file.
